Stubborn Love: Lost In The Amazon
by Crystal Draculura Bloodsucker
Summary: Adopted from CeruleanWind, Shadow must embark on a mission, but Rouge isn't here with him this time, so he's forced to take Sonic instead. They hate each other, down to the very guts, but as the mission continues and they become lost in the wilderness, they must work together to survive the deadly harshness of the rainforest and the mysterious creature following them. (Sonadow)
1. A New Mission

**Chapter 1: A New Mission**

 _Beep! Beep! Beep!_

The alarm beeped obnoxiously at 6:00 AM sharp. Shadow the Hedgehog groaned and turned it off, not wanting to get out of bed at all. Getting up meant going back to G.U.N, and he sure didn't want to do that. But, unfortunately, that was his job, and that makes it involuntary.

The dark-furred hedgehog reluctantly got out of bed and turned on the light, yawning.

' _Maybe today will be a good day for once. Maybe I won't have to risk my life for those ungrateful humans,_ ' He thought bitterly.

Shadow went to the kitchen and quickly prepared a bowl of cereal for a quick breakfast. While he was eating, he flipped through the newspaper to see if anything interesting was going on.

On the front page it read, _Sonic the Hedgehog saves the world from Eggman, AGAIN!_

"Dammit!" Shadow muttered out loud, shutting the newspaper and pushing it away. "Why is it always him? Everybody thinks he's so great but nope, he's just a particularly fast hedgehog."

He finished his bowl of cereal and set it in the sink to wash later, sighing. Working at G.U.N sucks.

In the bathroom, Shadow carefully styled his quills so the obsidian and crimson spikes were sleek and perfect.

"And now I have to go," Shadow sighed, heading over to the mudroom to grab his motorcycle keys. He exited the house and got onto his motorcycle, turning it on and zooming down the street.

The dark form couldn't help but smile as the wind rushed around him, ruffling his quills ever so slightly. Riding this motorcycle gave Shadow a sense of freedom that couldn't be felt anywhere else. Not even running, or more like gliding on his hover shoes, could make him feel so alive unlike his blue counterpart.

He pulled into the military base's parking lot and parked his motorbike. Starting to walk into the large building, Shadow felt a feeling of dread swamp him.

' _Why do I still do this job..?_ ' He thought. ' _What if I start to save the world like Sonic? I'd get fame, sure, but what about money? He must get money._ '

As soon as Shadow entered the building the Commander rushed up to him. "Shadow!" he greeted. "Come to my office, I have to talk with you for a bit."

The ebony hedgehog suppressed the urge to roll his eyes and sigh in annoyance as he followed the tall human into his office and sat in the chair opposite to the desk, facing the Commander.

"Alright. So Shadow, I have a mission for you."

Shadow sighed inwardly. Another damn mission? But, he forced himself to nod. "What is it?"

"To gather new information about an unidentified species that's been recently spotted. I need you to go to the Amazon Rainforest and learn as much as you can." The Commander looked nonchalant, like it wasn't much of a big deal.

"Alright." Shadow nodded once more, but then he had a thought. This mission was much too big for one person. Trying to find the new species by oneself would take ages, as well as documenting the findings as they studied the creature. And what if it was big? As in, BIG big. The obsidian hedgehog wouldn't stand a chance, especially considering it would be in the middle of a damn jungle, where there was no room to run or fight, and he had left his only Chaos Emerald at home.

Shadow shook his head. No. As much as he hated to admit it, he could not do this alone, and yet… "But, Rouge is on her own mission." He reminded the human in front of him. "Who shall I take on this one?"

The Commander smiled and the next thing he said shocked the ebony hedgehog to the core.

"You'll be taking Sonic the Hedgehog. I thought you two should get to know each other."


	2. Why Him?

**Chapter 2: Why Him?**

"What?" Shadow was alert now. "Why him?"

The Commander frowned at this. "Because it's time you two settled your differences. Everyone and their mother knows that you two have a rivalry going on, and usually this rivalry involves challenges between you two, whether it be in who's the fastest or the strongest. Your reckless behaviors in these childish games you play have taken a toll on most of the land on Mobias, tearing up landscape or startling innocent citizens to the point where one poor old woman suffered a heart attack due to your sudden passings in a 300 mile per hour race."

At these news, Shadow was completely at a lost for words. He had not intended to cause so much trouble by, involuntarily most of the time, accepting the challenges the blue hedgehog offered. Most of the time, to the two speed demons, it was all just fun and games, but when lives, like of the poor old woman, were at stake, Shadow realized that maybe the Commander had a point, and it was time to settle things with the faker.

Not that it will be easy.

"And besides," The human continued, gaining the hedgehog's attention once more. "Sonic has already agreed to the mission."

' _Of course he has._ ' The dark form finally dipped his head. "Okay, if that is who it must be. How long will the mission take?"

"It should only take you about a month."

"Very well then. I'll try to get as much information on the new species as I can. Have a good day, Commander."

And with that, Shadow left the Commander's office and just left the whole building. He was done. Sonic, of all people? His arch rival? At first he was actually considering it, given the news the Commander had given him, but to hear that he would have to deal with him for a whole month?! Shadow wasn't sure if he'd be able to handle that.

Shadow's cell phone suddenly buzzed. He sighed and looked at the number. It said Unknown Number.

Frowning, Shadow picked up. "Hello?"

"Hi, is this Shadow the Hedgehog?" A mainly cheerful voice sounded from the other end.

"Yeah," The ebony hedgehog told the other person. "Who is this?"

There was a moment's hesitation before the reply came. "It's Sonic the Hedgehog. The Commander gave me your number."

Shadow sighed again, of course he did. "I see, so, you know about the mission?"

"Yup." There was another pause. "When is it, and how are we getting there?"

"I believe there's a helicopter waiting for us right now," Shadow informed Sonic as he looked up to the roof of the building, hearing the engine of the 'copter start up and the blades slicing the air. "At the G.U.N base."

"Kay. I'll be there in a flash." And Sonic hung up.

Barely five seconds passed before Sonic came running up, seeming to be slowing down. Shadow just crossed his arms and turned away. "The helipad is on the roof," he muttered.

And the two hedgies set off in silence for the helipad, where their transportation was waiting. Upon arriving, two G.U.N soldiers handed the two hedgehogs each a pack. Shadow's was equipped with multiple walkie-talkies used for communicating with G.U.N, while Sonic had a backpack full of survival supplies.

Deciding to break the silence once they were out of earshot of the soldiers, Shadow said forcefully, "Look, I didn't want to do this. Let's just get the mission done and be over with it."

"Like I wasn't going to do that already," Sonic replied tartly. The blue speedster was already annoyed with Shadow, and they've only spent five minutes together. "I don't want to do this any more than you do."

This kinda surprised Shadow. The ebony would've thought that after hearing from Commander about their usual races involving death by heart failure, Sonic would be eager to try and set things straight between them, being he was always going on about protecting the citizens of Mobias. Then again, maybe the Commander hadn't told him about it, most likely because the blue was already getting impatient and just immediately agreed to avoid the groveling of the human. Oh how Shadow would've loved to see that pathetic human grovel to the hero of Mobias.

They emerged onto the helipad and climbed into the awaiting helicopter. Sonic and Shadow sat on opposite sides of the cabin, staring out the window as they set up their radio communicators over their ears.

"Ready?" The pilot's voice asked over the radio.

Shadow sighed heavily before saying, "Yup. Let's get going."

And with that, away they went, hovering high into the clouds before taking flight towards the Amazon Rainforest, to an adventure unknown to the two hedgehogs in cab.

An adventure, that will change their lives forever.


	3. Given Information

A/N: The first two chapters were written by CeruleanWind with my added edits in it. Any other chapters beyond this point are written by me. Enjoy.

PS: Some dialogue will be in another language. Bolded translations will be in parenthesis next to the dialogue.

 **Chapter 3: Given Information**

After a few hours of flying at 15,000 feet at high speeds of 267 mph, the beautiful rainforest of the Amazon could be seen from down below. Sonic couldn't help but gasp as he peered at the jungle beauty below them from out the window.

"Shadow take a look at this."

The ebony hedgehog rolled his eyes before looking out the window too. As he did so, he couldn't help but agree that the rainforest looked honestly breathtaking from above.

"Isn't it amazing?" Sonic's voice practically smiled over the radio intercom.

Shadow just shrugged his shoulders before leaning back in his seat, crossing his arms over his chest with his eyes closed. Sonic couldn't help but roll his eyes at the behavior of his companion.

"Seriously Shadow, sometimes you just gotta stop and enjoy the simplest things in life."

"Enjoying the simplest things are just a waste of time, especially if we have an important mission ahead of us."

Sonic frowned in annoyance before turning to look back outside. By now, he could see that they were coming up to a landing pad in the middle of a large village full of South Americans.

"Hey Shads, I think we're getting ready to land."

"Good, then we can finally get this over with. And don't call me Shads."

Sonic forced himself to hold in a growl. Seriously, what was wrong with that hedgehog?! Why was he being so bitter towards him? What has he done other than agree to work with him for a month? He sighed and rubbed a gloved hand over his face.

"Listen Shadow, if anything I don't wanna fight you during this." He sighed, bringing his hand back down to look at the onyx hedgie. "I'm just here to help you with the mission because Rouge is on her own and I know she took Omega with her, leaving you with no one else. I just wanna help."

Shadow kept his eyes closed and he sighed. Perhaps Sonic was right. He wasn't being very fair to the blue hedgehog in front of him. All Sonic wanted to do was help, so shouldn't he be grateful for that?

Besides… he had already told the Commander that he would try to make things work between them.

"Fine." He finally growled, opening his eyes to look at him. "I'll _try_ to work with you, just as long as you do everything I say."

"No problem, Shads!" Sonic cried cheerfully, holding up a thumbs up.

Shadow just rolled his eyes and looked back out the window, watching as the helicopter lowered into the village.

At last, the 'copter landed on the helipad and the engine was turned off, slowing the swirling blades to a stop. Sonic and Shadow got up from their seats and exited the cabin, their bags snugged tightly onto their backs. As they stepped outside, a wave of humid heat hit them. It was the middle of summer in the rainforest.

"Great, that means it's the rainy season." Shadow growled.

"It's a 'rain'forest, what did you expect?" Sonic frowned.

Shadow humphed and ignored the azure hedgie next to him, adjusting the straps of his pack over his shoulders before continuing forward, Sonic following close behind. As they walked off the helipad, a tall human man with tan skin, green eyes, short blonde hair, and wearing a black South American G.U.N uniform approached them.

"Shadow and Sonic the Hedgehog." The man greeted once the three of them were standing face to face. The man held out a hand to them in an attempt for a handshake. "Officer Charles of unit 37 of the South American G.U.N Agency."

"Pleasure to meet you, sir." Sonic nodded as he shook the man's hand, already knowing that Shadow wasn't going to. "But, how did you know we were coming?"

"G.U.N has connections with each other all over the world." Officer Charles answered. "The Commander informed me of your approaching arrival."

"Then you must know of our mission?" Shadow assumed.

"Of course, you're here to help us study the new species that has been said to previously been spotted." Charles nodded, a frown forming on his face. "I'm not sure we'll have much luck though."

"And why is that?"

"I'm afraid it's because those who have spotted the creature are actually superstitious Indians that live by the Amazon River. They're description of the creature prove to be the same of a creature that lived over 50,000 years ago."

"50,000 years?!" Sonic gasped. "What in the world is this creature?"

"I'll let the Indian we have in custody explain that. You'll need all the information you can get."

"You have one of these Indians to have spotted the creature in your custody?" Shadow frowned as he and Sonic started following him to the headquarters of unit 37.

"Of course we do," Officer Charles answered as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "As the G.U.N Agency of South America, if is our duty to make sure we know of anything unnatural to have occured in our country. This young man had information about an unknown creature that none of us had ever heard of before besides in history books. And, knowing how descelent Indians are, I find it hard to believe that one of them could've gotten their hands on a specific book with that specific creature, and started spreading rumors about spotting one over by the river. I also don't think it's possible for them to just have come up with the creature at the top of their head."

"And just what exactly is this creature that the Indian in your custody has described?" Shadow questioned irritably. "Perhaps we would have a lot better of an easier time trying to figure out what the heck the guy is talking about if we knew a name to this obviously discovered before creature."

Charles stopped walking and gave a big sigh. He turned around to face the hedgehogs, a grim look over his features.

"Megalania…" It was all he said before he started walking again, coming up to a large building surrounded by fencing with barb wire at the top, obviously the headquarters of the South American G.U.N Agency.

Sonic and Shadow looked to each other in confusion. Both were asking the same question.

What the heck is Megalania?

Their question would soon be answered as they continued to follow the human man into the building.

"Keep up you two," Charles called behind him. "Don't want you getting lost in our base. The interrogation room is just up ahead. That's where we've been keeping our friend."

"An interrogation room." Sonic deadpanned, his look unnamused. "Right, cause nothing says friendly hospitality like being treated like a criminal."

"Shut it, Faker." Shadow growled.

Sonic rolled his eyes but kept his mouth shut as he followed Charles and Shadow behind a door and into a white room. In the room, there was a single metal table with a lamp sitting on the edge. Two chairs were seated around the table, and behind one of the chairs was a mirror that was obviously a look-in window. In the chair in front of the mirror, was a young man with dark skin, black hair, amber eyes, and wearing Amazon Indian attire.

"This young man comes from the Awa Tribe." Charles explained, closing the door after the three of them had entered the room. "He won't tell us his name, but everything else, he's been pretty cooperative."

Shadow humphed and walked over to the Indian sitting in the chair behind the table. Sonic, curious to know what the ebony hedgehog was going to do, followed him but still stood a good few inches behind him. Shadow pulled the other chair out and sat down, placing his elbows on the table and holding his hands in front of his face as if he were praying. The Indian said nothing, but only continued to stare back. Finally, Shadow broke the silence between them.

"Can you speak english?"

The Indian frowned something nasty at the agent. He sneered and spoke with a growl in his own native tongue.

"Quem quer saber, porco da polícia?" ( **Who wants to know, police pig?** )

"What did he say?" Sonic asked in confusion.

Shadow held up a hand to silence his companion, his eyes never leaving from the man in front of him.

"My name is Shadow the Hedgehog, G.U.N agent of unit 14 of the North American Agency. I am here to learn information about this so called new species that you and your tribe have said to have spotted along the Amazon River."

At this, the man paled, his eyes widened in fear. Shadow smirked, he had his attention now.

"Can you tell me exactly what it is you saw?"

The man frowned and hung his head, looking down at his hands that laid on the table. He had already explained to the others what he had seen. But, he feared that if he didn't tell the hedgehog in front of him of the danger he was attempting to put himself through, he wouldn't stand a chance.

"Foi um monstro." ( **It was a monster**.) He explained. "Nada que eu já tenha visto antes em toda a minha vida. Um lagarto gigante só contado em histórias de muito tempo atrás. Veio das montanhas para nos punir dos nossos pecados. Você já viu um dragão de Komodo, Sombra?" ( **Nothing I have ever seen before in my entire life. A giant lizard only told about in stories of long ago. It came from the mountains to punish us of our sins. Have you ever seen a Komodo Dragon, Shadow?** )

"Yes," Shadow nodded. "I've seen brief pictures of them."

Sonic had no idea of what the two of them were talking about. He knew the man was explaining what he had seen, but the only word that the azure hedgehog could make sense of was "Komodo Dragon". A type of lizard. Could that have been what the man had seen and was just making it into a bigger monster than what it is?

"Bem Sombra, pegue o Dragão de Komodo e adicione mais 15 pés a ele e você terá exatamente o que eu vi. Uma criatura que nós tribos da Amazônia, e muitas tribos ao redor do mundo chamam, o Dragão do Diabo." ( **Well Shadow, take the Komodo Dragon and add 15 more feet to it and you will get exactly what I saw. A creature we tribes of the Amazon, and many tribes around the world call, the Devil Dragon.** )

Shadow fought the urge to shiver as the Indian explained what he saw. Yeah, if something that big truly did exist, well he was glad that he didn't come alone.

"Where was the last time you saw this… Devil Dragon?" He asked the man.

"A última vez que vi o monstro, foi para Eldorado." ( **Last I saw of the monster, it was headed to Eldorado.** )

"Eldorado." Shadow frowned, trying to pinpoint where that might be. "Never heard of it."

"It's the city of gold." Sonic answered, offering any help in the matter as he could. "It's supposed to only exist in legends and stories. What's so important about it?"

"Turns out our new species may be headed that way, wherever it's supposed to be." Shadow answered before looking at the man. "Thank you, you have been very helpful."

"Não me agradeça por suas mortes. Indo após o dragão do diabo é suicídio." ( **Do not thank me for your deaths. Going after the Devil Dragon is suicide.** )

"That may be so, but we have a job to do." Shadow nodded as he stood up from the table, approaching Officer Charles who stood by the door. "We have all the information we can get, Officer. It's time to leave and get the real mission started. Next stop… Eldorado."


	4. The Mission Begins

**Chapter 4: The Mission Begins**

About a half hour later, Sonic, Shadow, and Officer Charles were looking at a map while sitting underneath a gazebo over by the forest. With them was another human man, an Amazon tourist named Karl. He was offering to guide the three of them through the jungle over to the Amazon River, where one of the Indian tribes were settled. There, they would ask for an Indian guide to take them down the river in a canoe to Eldorado. Sonic obviously wasn't too thrilled about having to go through the river, but he didn't voice it, not wanting to piss Shadow off more than he already has.

"So we're here." Karl pointed to an X on the map, indicating their current position. He took a black pen and started drawing a dotted line through the forest to the Amazon River. "If we take the path here, straight across the forest, we'll come up to the village. There, we can ask for a canoe to take us to Eldorado. The trip should only take three to four days."

"Good, because we only have a month to find this creature and study it." Shadow nodded in approval.

"We have a few things that'll help us survive through the jungle." Sonic informed as he went through his bag that G.U.N had given him back home. "A machete, some rope, insect repellent, bags of rice, a lighter, a tin cup meant for boiling water, there's even a first aid kit. Yeah, we're pretty good to go."

"Good." Karl nodded in approval. "But going through the river, there's a chance you might lose it. I have an idea for that."

"What do you suggest?" Sonic asked, raising an eyeridge in confusion.

Karl smiled and reached under the table, pulling out some empty tin cans with string tied around them.

"Tie these to your bag and should it come loose from your back in the river, the bag will float with the cans."

"Not a bad idea." The azure hedgehog smiled in approval as he took a few cans and tied them on his bag. When he realized that Shadow wasn't doing the same, he looked at him quizzically. "Aren't you gonna tie some cans around your bag? We're gonna need those walkie talkies to communicate with G.U.N. It'd be a shame to lose them."

"Hmfph," Shadow rolled his eyes, crossing his arms over his chest, the straps of his bag snugged tightly. "I don't need some dumb empty tin cans to tie to my bag. I'm not gonna lose it to some dumb river, unlike your slippery and clumsy hands."

Sonic growled at the insult, but that was about it. He wasn't about to waste his energy fighting with his companion when they were just about ready to enter the forest and take their journey to the next level.

"Like Karl said, it'll take us three to four days to reach the village." Officer Charles announced. "While we're travelling, we'll scavenge for food by eating fruit off of palm trees and bird eggs. And for meat, we can hunt animals."

"Sounds like a plan." Shadow nodded in agreement, looking over to Sonic as the blue blur hung his now rattling bag back over his shoulders. "Ready to go?"

"Ready Shads." Sonic smiled confidently as he held up a thumbs up.

"Then let's get going."

…

 _Day 1_

About an hour later, the group of four were walking through the jungle of the Amazon, headed towards their destination by the Amazon River. All around them animals and insects called out, shouting their opinions of the intruders that obviously didn't belong.

As they walked, Karl, with a hunting rifle hung over his shoulder, took the lead up front as he read the map in his hands, making sure they were going the right way. Sonic and Shadow followed behind the human in silence, while Officer Charles took up from behind. As they were walking, Karl began explaining what was safe to eat in the Amazon.

"There's plenty of food in the Amazon, you just gotta know where to look." He started. "Of course, all of the animals here are edible and great for meat and protein, but there are other ways to get your protein, and some food is even good for hydration."

Karl looked up and smiled. He looked back at his comrades and gestured them over as he led them over to a palm tree where big purple fruits that almost looked like scaly plums were growing on the branches.

"This is aguaje fruit." He explained, picking one off the tree and tossing it to Sonic, who easily caught it. "Mashing these babies make a wonderful purple mush that's a great food source, and the juice is perfect for hydration. These berries are filled with protein and vitamin c. Here in the Amazon, they're also known as the Miracle Fruit."

Realizing that neither one of them has eaten since that morning, Sonic and Shadow wasted no time grabbing some of the fruit and using the butt of the machete to mash it into the tin cup from Sonic's bag. Once the berries were nothing but a mushy mess, the group took turns passing it around, each gulping their fill of the wonderful fruit.

"Some of the ferns in the jungle are edible too." Karl continued, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand as he handed the cup to Sonic. "Just the tips though. They hold a source of fiber within them, great for the digestive system."

"What about the predators of the forest?" Sonic asked as he finished the last bit of mashed fruit and put the cup back into his bag. "What exactly do we need to look out for?"

"Well, jaguars for starters." The guide explained as they continued forth. "The rainforest is home to many of those big cats. If you find yourself at the mercy of one of them, you don't stand a chance, even with your speed."

"Not much room to run around here anyway." Shadow grumbled as he pushed back a branch, only for it to smack him back in the face again.

Sonic snorted a laugh at the sight, but a glare from the ebony hedgehog quickly silenced him. Instead, he turned his attention back to the human.

"Anything else?"

"Well, there's jaguars, like I said, but there's also snakes. Big anacondas that will squeeze the life out of you. Of course, it's not always the animals that you should be afraid of, some insects are pretty deadly too, like the leaf-cutter ants. Their pincers are tough enough to bite through leather. When you're setting up camp, gotta make sure they aren't around, otherwise you're in for a rude awakening. But the biggest worry in the Amazon when it comes to insects are mosquitoes."

"And why is that?" Sonic asked.

"Mosquitoes carry Malaria." Shadow answered for the human.

"What's Malaria?"

"A very deadly disease that infects the red blood cells of the body." Shadow explained. "To go without treatment long enough can be fatal. Malaria infects the kidney and liver, causing them to fail. It also attacks the central nervous system, causing problems there too. There are many symptoms to the disease as well, like fevers, headaches, vomiting, yellowing skin, sometimes even coughing up blood."

"Well, good thing we have that insect repellent." Charles joked behind them.

"Yeah… good thing." Sonic muttered.

The blue hedgehog couldn't help but shudder at the thought of getting Malaria. Shadow was very blunt when he explained the disease, which was pretty expected, but he didn't think that it would be so horrible, so… possible… for him. He knew Shadow would have a pretty hard time getting infected, he was the ultimate lifeform with a crazy immune system for Chaos sakes, but for Sonic…

At that moment, the azure hedgie realized for the first time just how vulnerable he was to the jungle. He was really glad they had the insect repellent, and he was even more grateful that he wasn't alone. He hoped that it stayed that way.

As for Shadow, he was starting to feel the same worries. He knew that he would most likely be immune, but he also knew that Sonic would be vulnerable. He had to make sure they didn't lose any of their supplies otherwise… Sonic could be dead before the month was even over.

As they continued to walk, Shadow was keeping an eye out for any signs of the new creature, but the forest was so dense, he couldn't barely see 5 feet in front of him. Suddenly, he felt himself step into a hole, almost losing his balance. He grumbled as he looked down to get his foot out of the hole, when he suddenly stopped, his eyes widening and his ears perking up in surprise.

"Uh, Karl?" He called to the guide.

"Yes Shadow?"

"By any chance are their any giant lizards around here?"

"Well, the only giant lizard I've ever seen is the Komodo Dragon, but they only live on the islands of Indonesia. I mean, I have seen a few in South America before, but only by the beaches."

"Then what is this?"

Curious to know what the ebony hedgehog was talking about, Karl, Sonic, and Charles went over to him and looked down to what he was pointing out, and all three gasped.

A giant footprint that obviously belonged to a theropod sat underneath Shadow's foot. It had to be at least five feet wide, he couldn't believe that he had actually almost missed it.

"It's old." Charles frowned as he rubbed at the dried mud from where the footprint sat. "It was most likely here about 3 days ago."

"It has to be our Devil Dragon." Sonic frowned as he too studied the footprint. "We're on the right track at least."

Shadow nodded and silently gulped. If this was how big the foot was… just how big was the actual creature itself?


	5. Legends

**Chapter 5: Legends**

 _Day 2_

The next morning, after a breakfast of rice and packing up camp, the group was on the move again. Nobody said a single word to each other on this quiet morning, just relishing in the beautiful sounds of the forest. Sonic usually wouldn't mind it, but he was curious to a certain extent to know more about the creature Officer Charles had mentioned before, the Megalania. If their Devil Dragon really was anything like it, he wanted to know just exactly what it was they were dealing with.

"So Officer Charles," He said to the human behind them, grabbing said G.U.N soldier's attention. "What exactly can you tell us about the Megalania? If the Devil Dragon is anything like it, what exactly are we dealing with?"

Charles smiled and nodded, taking Sonic's question into consideration. Shadow, who was also curious, decided to listen as well.

"Well, the Megalania is a type of lizard that is believed to have lived about around 50,000 years ago. It is said to be an extinct giant goanna or monitor lizard, but resembles the Komodo Dragon to a great extent. I'm actually surprised that people have said to be sighting a giant lizard similar to it, because the Megalania main habitat back in those eras was actually Australia, not South America."

"Weird." Sonic frowned in thought. "What do you think could've possibly brought it here, if that is what we're actually dealing with?"

"Not sure," Charles frowned. "But anyways, judging by how big the footprint we found yesterday was, science proves that the Megalania was at least 23 feet long in length, that all includes from head to tail tip, with a weight of 1,370 pounds."

"Dear Chaos." Sonic shuddered, chills running down his spine just imagining the giant monitor lizard. "What else? Like, how does it resemble the Komodo?"

"Well, a lot of it can be determined by its built. It had heavily built limbs and body and a large skull complete with a small crest in between the eyes, and a jaw full of serrated blade-like teeth. A lot of similarities can come from the mouth itself, actually. Due to the Megalania being so closely related to the Komodo Dragon, science believes that it may have attacked their prey just as similar. It would hide in waiting for some unlucky victim to pass through before springing and ambushing it. It would chomp it's teeth down on the prey much like a Komodo Dragon, and if the prey got away, the Megalania would follow it, just waiting for it to die."

"Are you trying to say that a bite from the Megalania holds the same blood poisoning bacteria as a Komodo?" Shadow questioned seriously.

"That's exactly what I'm saying."

"Shadow!" Sonic gasped. "What if our Devil Dragon really is similar to the Megalania? What are we supposed to do with it when we find it?"

"Study it, of course." Shadow frowned at the blue as if he had lost his mind. "That's what our entire mission was in the first place, or are you just that dense that you've already forgotten?"

"But a creature that big and that dangerous," Sonic gasped. "Should we really let it live? Let it just wander around the jungle for some unexpected human or Mobian to stumble across it?! Shadow, they wouldn't stand a chance. Dear Chaos, WE barely stand a chance. It's way bigger and heavier than any of Eggman's robots we've encountered. Not to mention, it's LIVING!"

"Sonic, I will not have this discussion with you." Shadow humphed, crossing his arms over his chest. "Our orders were clear. Study the creature, get back to base, present of the findings, that's it. We have no orders to destroy the creature, even if it is dangerous. No, we'll follow orders and protocol, and only study it, we will not destroy it."

"But…"

"That is an order, Sonic Ogilvie Maurice Hedgehog!"

That struck a deep chord. Sonic was shocked. Never before had Shadow actually called him by his full name when addressing him, and with such a tempered tone too. It made Sonic feel like a scolded child, his ears pressing against his head. He frowned sadly and looked at the ground, keeping his mouth shut as he glumly followed behind the ebony hedgehog.

Shadow honestly couldn't help but feel bad. He never intended to upset the blue hedgehog, and understood Sonic's concerns, but he had his orders and he was prone to stick with them. Still, it really didn't give him the right to snap at his companion like that.

"Um," He hummed, trying to find a way to lift the hero's spirit back up. "Why don't you tell me about Eldorado? You seem to know a bit about it."

At this opportunity, Sonic's mood immediately changed. He looked back up at his companion, his eyes bright with excitement as he smiled cheerfully.

"Oh, I know more than just a bit, Shads," He giggled. "Eldorado actually used to be one of my favorite legends as a child. Eldorado was the term used by the Spanish Empire to describe a mythical tribal chief of the Muisca native people in the Spanish colonial province of Colombia, who, as an initiation rite, covered himself with gold dust and submerged in Lake Guatavita. The legends surrounding Eldorado changed over time, as it went from being a man, to a city, to a kingdom, and then finally to an empire."

"Really now?" Shadow raised a curious eyeridge at the young hedgehog, suddenly a bit intrigued now.

"Uh-huh." Sonic nodded. "A second location for Eldorado was inferred from rumors, which inspired several unsuccessful expeditions in the late 1500s in search of a city called Manõa on the shores of Lake Parime. Two of the most famous of these expeditions were led by Sir Walter Raleigh. In pursuit of the legend, Spanish conquistadors and numerous others searched Colombia, Venezuela, and parts of Guyana and northern Brazil for the city and its fabulous king. In the course of these explorations, much of northern South America, including the Amazon River, was mapped. By the beginning of the 19th century, most people dismissed the existence of the city as a myth, but I still believe in it. Surely these legends had to come from _somewhere_."

"Yes, surely they had to." Shadow quietly agreed. He was incredibly intrigued now, which ultimately surprised him. He wasn't really so quick to believe in such things, but Sonic was right. The legend had to come from _somewhere_. Could it actually be possible that such a place exists? Sonic surely seemed to think so. Maybe, perhaps, if they had enough time after studying the Devil Dragon, the two hedgehogs could make their own expedition to find the city of gold. Maybe he could even talk to the Commander about it.

Suddenly, Karl stopped, holding up a hand to silence the group. He stood stock still and slowly brought his hunting rifle off his shoulder, looking up into the trees. Curious, Shadow looked up too, and saw a lone monkey hanging in the tree, eating the tips off of leaves. At that moment, Shadow understood. They were hunting.

Slowly and carefully, Karl brought his rifle around and held it up, looking through the scope as his index fingered the trigger, waiting for the right moment to fire. Then suddenly…

BANG!

The monkey hollered a finally screech as it fell from the tree to the ground below. Karl quickly put his rifle back over and ran to where the monkey had fell, the rest of the group following him behind.

Karl made it to the body first, and he hollered a wild man's yell as he picked up the small animal and waved it around. Sonic, Shadow, and Charles were all shocked by this. They could clearly see the wilderness in the man's eyes, as if he had been born and raised in the jungle his whole life instead of a village nearby.

"Are you nuts?!" Charles hissed, gaining attention from the others of the group. "You can't do that! You just killed it with a single bullet, at least give it some dignity instead of just waving it around!"

"What do you mean?" Karl chuckled, stepping up to the South American G.U.N soldier. "This is the Amazon. There are no laws here."

With that, Karl chuckled and turned away, suddenly throwing the monkey over to Sonic, who had no choice but to catch it. "Here, you carry that until we settle camp tonight. Then we shall feast."

Sonic's face paled as he stared at the dead body in his arms, the blood from the bullet wound dripping onto his fur and on the ground. He looked like he was about to be sick, but he swallowed back his discomfort and continued forward with the others, carrying the body as instructed.

"Want me to take it instead?" Shadow asked, seeing the blue hedgehog's discomfort.

"No Shadow, I got it." Sonic shook his head, turning to smile at him. "After all, it's the laws of the jungle."

Shadow huffed a small laugh before looking back at Charles to check up on him after the encounter. He frowned at what he saw. Charles was lagging behind, a haunted look on his features. He seemed to be unable to look away from the bleeding monkey in Sonic's arms. Shadow didn't like the look of that.

…

That night, after setting up their campsite, Sonic, Shadow, and Karl were sitting around the fire, enjoying their meal of roasted monkey meat. Charles was laying in the shelter he had made for himself, refusing to eat.

"I'm worried about Officer Charles." Sonic voiced his thoughts as he stared at the human. "I mean, it doesn't make any sense. He's the one that suggested we hunt the animals."

"I guess he just feels as if he might be degrading the animal more by eating it after I swung it around in a good hunting victory." Karl shrugged.

"Well, he needs to get over it." Shadow huffed disapprovingly. "He needs to realize that there are some things that are gonna happen in the forest that he may not like. He needs to toughen up, and be the soldier that he is."

Although he had to agree, Sonic still couldn't help but feel bad for the human. He looked over and stared at the man, his guilt becoming worse and worse the more he watched him. Finally, Sonic couldn't take it.

"I'm gonna go talk to him." He offered, standing up and walking over to him before either Shadow or Karl could change his mind. "Officer Charles?"

"Oh, hello Sonic," The man greeted the hedgehog. "What can I do for you? Still curious about the Megalania?"

"No sir, I'm just worried about the fact you're not eating." Sonic shook his head. "There's plenty of meat left, why don't you join us?"

"I'm afraid I can't eat that meat, Sonic." Charles sighed. "It has been tainted with the indignity of mocking the very life it once had."

"You mean when Karl swung it around in the air?"

"Precisely." Charles nodded. "You see Sonic, the way I was brought up, was that every animal is ancient to the world, and must be treated with respect. When you kill an animal, it must be for good reason, and you must always thank the life it once had. When Karl swung it around, yelling at the top of his lungs, he mocked the life of the monkey and tainted it's meat. I'm sorry, but I cannot eat that."

Sonic gulped in wonder at this new piece of information. Perhaps Charles had a bit of Indian heritage to him, as that is only where Sonic had heard of such things. Don't get him wrong, he respected it gratefully, but he was just not raised that way.

"I understand, officer." He nodded. "Would you eat if I boiled some rice for you instead?"

"That is very kind if you, Sonic. Yes, I will."

At this, Sonic couldn't help but smile as he turned away to start boiling a single serving of rice just for Charles, much to the curiosity and chagrin of Shadow and Karl, but he didn't care. He wasn't about to let one of his teammates starve just because another in the group didn't respect the man's beliefs.


	6. River Crossing

A/N: Hey everybody! Sorry for this chapter being so late today! I was having trouble figuring out how exactly I wanted this chapter to go. I also feel that this chapter is a little short, but it's also perfect for what's supposed to happen. A perfect look into the future. Anyways, again, sorry for the late update.

 **Chapter 6: River Crossing**

 _Day 3_

It was day three on the group's journey to the Amazon River and the Indian tribe that rested by it. The day had started out as any normal, well, normal enough to be waking up in the middle of the rainforest, but as time went by, the sky began to darken, indicating, much to Shadow's annoyance, that it was going to rain. The day was only halfway over, when the first drop of the storm started the full-on downpour.

"Great, just what we need." The ebony hedgehog hissed in annoyance.

"Like I said, Shads, it's a 'rain'forest." Sonic shrugged.

"Yes, so you've indicated before." Shadow growled back.

As they continued to walk, the storm began to worsen, hitting the palm leaves like a million bullets a second. The group was grateful for the shelter of the forest, but it did little to protect the ground beneath them. In less than a minute, the ground they walked upon was soggy and wet, forming mud as exposed dirt mixed with the sky water. Their shoes sunk into the mushy ground more than once as they walked, creating loud suction sounds as they pulled out to continue forward. Suddenly, Karl stopped, and the two hedgehogs' ears flicked in the rain at the sound of rushing water.

"Sonic, you still got that rope in your bag?" The guide asked the blue hedgehog.

"Uh, yeah?"

"Good, cause we're gonna need it."

Curious to know why, Sonic looked ahead of the human and his eyes widened as his face paled.

Right in front of them, was a river of water rushing right by them, the currents becoming stronger with the rain that fed it. It wasn't overly large, about maybe as big as an American soccer field, but that still didn't mean Sonic was any more willing to go in himself.

"Well Faker, you gonna give him the rope? Or am I gonna have to go digging through your bag myself?" Shadow huffed, his arms crossed over his chest as he stared at his companion.

"Oh, uh, yeah, right." Sonic blushed as he took his bag off and opened it up, digging into the pocket to bring out the rope. "Here you go, Karl."

"Thank you." Karl smiled before taking the rope and tying an end of it to a nearby tree closest to the river. "I'll be right back."

Before anyone could question on what he was about to do, the crazy human jumped into the river and began to quickly swim over to the other side, holding tightly onto the rope so he wouldn't be swept away by the strong currents. When he finally made it to the other side, he climbed up the bank and tied the other end of the rope he was holding to another nearby tree. Making sure the knot was tight, he turned back to the group on the other side of the river.

"Alright you guys!" He shouted through his hands. "Grab the rope and start making your way over. Once you're on this side, I'll go back and untie it and bring it back."

"Affirmative, Karl!" Shadow shouted back before turning to Sonic and Charles. "Alright you two, let's get going and get this over with."

"U-Umm," Sonic stuttered, his gaze going from Shadow, to the river, to the rope, and back again, his face still pale with fear. "M-maybe I should stay on this side, and make sure the rope doesn't untie itself?"

"Not an option, Faker." Shadow frowned. "Besides, even if it does untie itself, we can just do what Karl did and just hang onto the rope."

"Yeah, it's as simple as that." Charles shrugged, slapping a firm hand onto Sonic's shoulder. "Nothing to worry about."

Sonic, however, was not convinced. He kept staring at the rushing water, his fear slowly starting to become more obvious. Charles knew nothing about the blue hedgehog's hydrophobia, but Shadow did. He should've known that he would be hesitant, if not downright terrified, to simply walk into the river, despite there being something to hold onto. Shadow continued to stare at his companion, the fear become more and more apparent the more Sonic stared at the river. Ebony sighed. He had to convince the blue somehow.

"Look, Sonic," He started as he approached the younger hedgehog, laying a gentle hand on his shoulder in reassurance. "I know you're scared, but in order to continue our mission, we have to cross this river. If I could, I would simply Chaos Control us to the other side, but I don't have my Chaos Emerald with me, so that's not an option. You need to be brave this time."

"But…" Sonic shuddered. "What if I accidently let go of the rope? What if the river just simply takes me away? I can't swim, Shads. I'll drown!"

"No you won't." Shadow frowned, grabbing Sonic's shoulders to spin him around and face him. Ruby met green, one filled with terror, the other filled with promise. "Because I won't let you."

Sonic was speechless. Shadow basically just told Sonic he would protect him and save him if any trouble crossing the river were to happen! It made a warm fuzzy feeling to fill his stomach, making him smile just slightly.

"Promise?" He asked, holding his pinky finger up to seal the deal.

Shadow rolled his eyes, but he brought his own pinky finger up and wrapped it around Sonic's, a slight smile stretching across his muzzle at the childish, but reassuring gesture.

"I promise."

Sonic smiled and let go of Shadow's finger, taking a deep breath to calm his nerves as he turned back to the rushing river.

"So are we going?" Charles asked, deciding not to talk about what just happened.

"Yes, we are." Shadow nodded. "Sonic, you're up front so that you can get out of the river first, I'll go next right behind you, and Officer Charles, you stick behind me, everybody got that?"

"Yes sir." Sonic and Charles both answered in unison.

"Then let's go."

With that, Sonic hesitantly grabbed onto the rope and slowly began descending into the water, holding onto the rope as tightly as he could. He was visibly shaking, but he swallowed up his fear and continued forth, remembering that Shadow had promised to keep him safe. Shadow grabbed onto the rope after Sonic and held on just as tight as he went into the water as well. Charles shortly followed after.

The process was slow, considering that Sonic was up front, shaking terribly in fear, but Shadow decided not to rush him. It would only make his fear worse.

Instead, the ebony hedgehog encouraged him.

"It's alright Sonic, you're doing great. Just keep going forward, and we'll all be over to the other side in no time. That's it. Just hold onto that rope. Remember, I'm right here."

"S-Shadow, I'm s-scared!" Sonic whimpered. "The current is t-too strong!"

"I'm right here, Sonic, remember that. I promised you that you wouldn't drown, and I intend to keep that promise. You're doing just fine. Just keep going. That's it. We're almost there."

Suddenly, a loud splash came from behind Shadow, causing both hedgehogs to look back. Their eyes widened at what they saw.

The current had swept over Officer Charles, bringing his entire body down into the water. Only his hands holding tightly onto the rope were visible, and they could clearly see him struggling.

"Officer Charles!" Sonic cried.

"Sonic, get to the bank!" Shadow ordered. "I'll get him, just get out of the water!"

Nodding quickly, Sonic, as quick as he could, climbed up the rope onto the riverbank, where Karl was waiting patiently to help pull them out. After seeing that Sonic had safely made it to the other side, Shadow quickly turned his attention back to the other human and quickly made his way over to him.

Charles pulled onto the rope with as much strength as he could in the rushing water, barely pulling his head above the surface. Shadow quickly reached him and dove his hand underneath the water, searching for something to grab onto the man and help pull him back up.

With sheer strength only the Ultimate Life form could possess, Shadow pulled Charles out of the water and laid his upper body hanging over the rope. Charles coughed and sputtered as he spit water back up out of his system, taking deep breaths of air that had been knocked out of him after that wave had submerged him.

"What's wrong with you?" Shadow hissed at the man once he could make himself heard.

"What do you mean?" Charles frowned back, not sure where the American G.U.N agent was getting at.

"You know exactly what I mean," Obsidian growled. "you're not enjoying this one bit. You're refusing to eat and you're getting weaker while the rest of us grow stronger. I mean, look at Sonic. He's absolutely terrified by water, and yet he was able to swallow his fear to cross this river, and that's the most strength I've ever seen from him. Why don't you just turn back? You're obviously not cut out for the jungle."

"Just go, I'll be fine." Charles growled back. "I was born and raised here in the Amazon, so don't you dare say I'm not cut out. Go!"

Shadow huffed and turned away from the South American G.U.N agent, quickly pulling himself across the river and onto the bank, Charles following close behind.

After everyone was standing on the other side of the river, Karl swam back to the other side and retrieved the rope before swimming back. After wrapping the rope back up and putting it away, Karl quickly rechecked the map before they moved ahead again, determined to reach the Indian tribe in the next day.


	7. Changing For The Better

**Chapter 7: Changing For The Better**

 _Day 4_

The next morning, a tragedy set over the group.

Since yesterday, Officer Charles has been quietly complaining to himself that his feet were hurting. When they had set up camp, the human had taken his boots off to lessen the pain some, completely ignoring his soaking wet socks from rain and river water. It was only in the morning, when Charles was grimacing in pain to put his boots back on, did Karl finally tell him to remove his socks. When he did, the three others gasped in shock.

Charles feet were covered in open sores, blisters running with fluid as delicate red flesh turned redder in the open air. Some of them even looked a bit infected.

"Just as I feared." Karl sighed, turning to look at the hedgehogs. "He has trench foot."

"Trench foot?" Sonic questioned. "What's that?"

"It's a serious medical condition caused by prolonged exposure of the feet to damp, unsanitary, and cold conditions." Karl explained. "It is one of many immersion foot syndromes. The use of the word trench in the name is a reference to trench warfare, mainly associated with World War I. Because Officer Charles wears steel toe boots, the water from yesterday has been trapped in his boots, unable to dry out and soaking his feet. The cold of the storm last night only made it worse. His feet are slowly starting to rot away. I'm sorry boys, but Officer Charles can't go on. He needs professional medical attention, immediately."

The boys were upset. Charles was honestly a tough cookie to last this long, only to be broken down by foot problems, even if they were lethal. But even though they were upset, nobody was more upset than Charles.

"Dammit!" The human cursed, slapping a frustrated hand against the ground as he stared at his rotting feet in shame. "4 days of traveling in the Amazon and _this_ is what takes me down. Bullshit!"

"Officer…" Shadow started, trying to think of a way to calm him down.

"No Shadow, it's complete bullshit. I'm supposed to be a soldier of G.U.N, this cannot be the reason why I can't continue!"

Officer Charles sighed, his spirit deflated. With eyes filled with shame, he looked back up to the obsidian and crimson hedgehog in front of him.

"You were right, Shadow." He sighed sadly. "I'm not cut out for the jungle."

The human's statement hit Shadow like a 28 gauge bullet. He was regretting ever saying that to him yesterday during the river crossing. If he had known that this would happen, he never would've said anything in the first place.

"Officer Charles don't you ever say that." He growled, grabbing the human by the shoulders. "I was wrong to say such things to you. The Amazon is you're home, and I disrespected that knowledge. If anything, you're more cut out than any of us."

"But how can you say that after this?" Charles frowned, gesturing to his medical problem.

"You have no control over what happens medically." Shadow sighed. "This is just a minor setback. It could've happened to either one of us, including me, and I mean that. Just because I'm immortal and the Ultimate Lifeform doesn't mean I can't get hurt too."

Sonic smiled at Shadow's little speech. He never would've expected the ebony to go to such lengths to make someone feel better about themselves, admitting that he can have weaknesses too. After this and his little attempt to help Sonic crossing the river yesterday, it almost seems as if Shadow is trying to… better himself? Sonic really couldn't think of the word, but whatever it was, he liked it. He liked this new side of Shadow, and he hoped that he would be seeing it more often during the mission.

Officer Charles smiled, appreciating Shadow's attempt in cheering him up.

"You guys should go on without me." He suddenly told them. "I can make it out of the jungle myself."

"Absolutely not." Karl frowned. "There's no telling on what kind of danger you'd be putting yourself through if you went along on your own. Somebody is gonna have to go with you."

"Well, this _is_ Shadow and I's mission," Sonic piped up. "And we should be reaching the Indian tribe today, according to your map, so, what if Shadow and I continue on our own, while Karl takes Officer Charles back to the village? What do you think, Shads?"

"It could work." Shadow agreed, turning to their guide. "Karl?"

"If you guys think you can do it, then go on ahead without us." Karl nodded, taking off his rifle and rolling up the map, giving the hedgehog both. "Take these with you, you'll need them."

"Thank you," Shadow nodded before turning to Sonic. "Come on, Faker. Let's hit the road."

…

One hour later, Sonic and Shadow were walking through the rainforest on their own, the two humans long gone the other way back to the village. Shadow took the lead as he held the map, checking over it every once in awhile to be sure of their direction. Sonic was following behind, the hunting rifle hanging over his shoulder. As they walked, Sonic looked up to his companion and smiled.

"That was a really nice thing you did for Officer Charles back there."

"What are you talking about, Faker?"

"I mean how you tried to make him feel better after he was clearly upset about having to end the journey short because of medical problems. He believed himself that even if he lived here his whole life, he was no match for the jungle, and your little comment to him yesterday really hit the nail in the head a little deeper on that. But then you swooped in and admitted you were wrong. I admire you for that."

"Pft, I was only speaking the truth." Shadow rolled his eyes.

"Still though, you easily could've let him believe it, but you didn't. I like this new side of you, Shads. First you help me with the river yesterday, and then you cheer up Officer Charles. It's so unlike you, but I like it."

Shadow blushed at Sonic's statement. Some things he said about that just didn't sound right.

"What do you mean you 'like' it?" He seethed.

"I'm… not implying anything, Shads, if that's what you're thinking." Sonic couldn't help but blush, his mind immediately going to the gutter at Shadow's sneer.

"You better not be." The ebony hissed. "This is completely platonic. I only did those things in favor of the mission and my reputation with G.U.N. Nothing is going to change that, do you understand?"

For some reason, Sonic could feel his heart breaking, which didn't make any sense. He didn't have feelings for the ebony hedgehog… did he?

Sonic shook his head. Of course not! He was simply heartbroken because he was so sure that Shadow was changing for the better and thought that he could actually start trying to be friends with him. But of course, like everything with Shadow, it was an empty hope.

"Yeah," He finally sighed, hanging his head with his ears flat against his head. "I understand."

Shadow took no note of Sonic's sudden depressed state when he suddenly heard noises up ahead. Frowning, he cautiously moved towards the noise, Sonic following close behind just as quiet as he heard it too. When they reached some ferns, Shadow took a hand and quietly moved them away. What the two hedgehogs saw on the other side made them sigh in relief.

Behind the ferns was a rather large river bank covered in sand and wood, decorated with little huts as tanned South American humans with black hair and jungle attire prance around, looking busy without a care in the world.

"This must be the Indian tribe that Karl was talking about." Sonic guessed, causing Shadow to roll his eyes.

"No, what gave it away?"

"Olhe para lá!"

Before the two hedgehogs could start another argument, another voice called out from the tribe, gaining their attention. As they turned their heads to the source of the shout, they saw a little Indian boy pointing at them with eyes wide with terror. Everyone else in the tribe eventually stopped too, turning to look at the hedgehogs in equal fear.

"Uh oh." Sonic gulped as two Indian warriors came out, pointing their spears at the intruders in defence. "How are we gonna get outta this one? We need one of their guides."

"Leave this to me, Faker."

With that, Shadow slowly and cautiously walked out of the ferns, his hands held up to show surrender. Sonic gulped and followed his lead, hoping that whatever the ebony had planned worked.

"Você fala inglês?" ( **Do you speak english?** ) Shadow asked.

"Não, nós não temos uso para que a língua estrangeira saia de nossas línguas." ( **No, we do not have use for that foreign language to roll off our tongues.** ) The warrior on the left sneered. "Mas você é um Mobian e conhece a nossa língua. Que negócio você tem aqui, estranho?" ( **But you are a Mobian, and know our language. What business do you have here, stranger?** )

"Meu nome é Shadow the Hedgehog, e este é meu companheiro, Sonic the Hedgehog." ( **My name is Shadow the Hedgehog, and this is my companion, Sonic the Hedgehog.** ) The ebony introduced himself and Sonic. "Nós chegamos à Amazônia em uma missão de G.U.N. Uma estranha criatura disse ter sido avistada e estamos aqui para descobrir o que é. Um índio da tribo Awa nos informou que a estranha criatura está indo para Eldorado. Nós estávamos esperando que um de sua tribo estaria disposto a nos guiar pelo rio até o local." ( **We come to the Amazon on a mission from G.U.N. A strange creature has said to have been spotted and we are here to discover what it is. An Indian from the Awa tribe has informed us that the strange creature is headed to Eldorado. We were hoping that one from your tribe would be willing to guide us down the river to said location.** )

At this, everyone in the tribe looked to each other. Should they believe these strangers? They did seem to come out of nowhere. However, it was true that _something_ unusual was lurking around the jungle. They have seen it themselves. At last, the two warriors nodded and lowered their weapons.

"O que você fala da criatura é verdade. Nós vimos o Dragão do Diabo nós mesmos." ( **What you speak of the creature is true. We have seen the Devil Dragon ourselves**.) The one on the right informed. "Está no caminho para Eldorado, mas a selva é implacável. Nós seremos seus guias, mas devemos ir de canoa." ( **It is on the path to Eldorado, but the jungle is unforgiving. We will be your guides, but we must go by canoe.** )

"Meu companheiro está terrivelmente com medo da água. Tem certeza de que não há outro jeito?" ( **My companion is terribly afraid of water. Are you sure there is no other way?** ) Shadow asked.

"Com medo não. Viajar a pé levaria muito tempo, com muitos desvios no caminho. Não, o caminho mais rápido para Eldorado é pelo rio, então sugiro que você faça algo sobre o medo de seu amigo." ( **Afraid not. Traveling by foot would take too long, with many detours in the way. No, the quickest way to Eldorado is by the river, so I suggest you do something about your friend's fear.** )

With that, the two warriors walked away, most likely to get a canoe ready. With everything in order, the rest of the tribe went about their business. Sonic sighed in relief before looking up at Shadow.

"So, what was that all about?" He asked him.

"Well, I have good news, and then I have bad news." Shadow sighed, looking at the blue.

"Uh oh."

"Good news is, those two warriors are gonna be our guides to Eldorado."

"And the bad news?"

"We're gonna have to take a canoe down the river to reach it."

"Down… the river?" Sonic gulped, turning to look at the greenish-brown water of the Amazon River. While yes, it wasn't raging like the river from yesterday, it still really big, and not to mention, deep as well. Sonic could feel himself growing dizzy and nauseous just _thinking_ about being on the water. He probably showed it too, as Shadow suddenly reached over and held him up by his shoulders.

"Woah! Don't faint on me, Faker!" He hissed, shaking the blue to somewhat of a coherent state. "Remember, I promised you that I wouldn't let you drown. I pinky sweared on it, remember?"

At that statement, Shadow held up his pinky into Sonic's view, said hedgehog glaring at it suspiciously.

"Yeah, but back then you were only thinking about the mission, you said so yourself." He hissed.

"I was wrong, ok." Shadow sighed, his ears falling to his head. Why did he feel so bad all of a sudden? "To be honest, Sonic, I'm absolutely _terrified_ for your life. It wasn't until we officially started the mission, walking through the jungle during that first day did I realize just how vulnerable you are, and I'm sure you're aware of that too."

Sonic gulped. He really didn't want to be reminded that the jungle could easily take him if he'd let it. What was Shadow getting at though? He was fearing for _his_ life? This was a sudden change.

"Look Sonic," The ebony continued. "My mind will mostly be on the mission, but I'm also doing my best to get along with you. I don't want us to keep fighting all the time. We make a pretty good team, otherwise, Commander never would've put us together. I'm hoping, that sometime at the end of this, we can be _somewhat_ friends?"

What in the world was he thinking?! What was he saying?! Shadow literally didn't have a clue. Perhaps he was just following the Commanders orders to form some kind of friendship with the azure hedgehog, but involuntarily? Yeah, that had to be it.

Sonic, however, smiled once more. Shadow didn't want to fight? He wanted to try and be friends? This definitely was new, and WAY out of character. But he really liked it. That same warm fuzzy feeling from yesterday filled his stomach. What was it?

"Do you really mean it, Shads?"

"I do, Sonic. And listen," Shadow suddenly took his pinky finger and wrapped it around Sonic's, said hedgehog's face coming up in surprise, staring directly into ruby orbs. "No matter what happens here in the Amazon, I will _always_ protect you."

Sonic could feel tears filling up his eyes and he quickly blinked them away, not wanting to cry over something so simple. He shook his head and chuckled, looking up at the obsidian hedgehog.

"Come on then. Let's go find us a giant monitor lizard."


	8. Run Away

A/N: Hey, sorry this is late again, but WOW was this a long chapter, and with a lot of translations too. I hope you enjoy this chapter I spent all day working on. Things get a little intense here.

 **Chapter 8: Run Away**

 _Day 7_

Three days later, the two hedgehogs with their two Indian guides were still paddling down the river in their canoe. They had only made it a fourth down the river and still had so far to go to reach Eldorado. It's not like they were any hurry, they still had about four weeks to find and study the Devil Dragon, but let's remember, Sonic hates water.

"Will you at least _try_ to relax?" Shadow frowned at the blue hedgehog, who was hanging onto the sides of the canoe for dear life.

"I'm trying Shads, I really am." Sonic gasped, trying his best not to hyperventilate as he stared at the water. "But it's not so easy to get over your fears so quickly."

"I understand." Shadow sighed, scooting closer over to his companion, placing his hands on his shoulders. Sonic paid no attention, unable to look away from the river. Shadow frowned at this. "Sonic, look at me."

Sonic's form stayed rigid.

"Look at me, Sonic."

Sonic, gulping fearfully, finally turned his head to Shadow, giving him his full attention when he saw the other smiling reassuringly.

"Remember my promise." Shadow smiled, pinky up. "Remember."

Sonic looked at Shadow and smiled warmly, wrapping his pinky around the ebony's.

"As long as you don't break your promise, I'll try to stay relaxed."

"I don't plan to."

"Sombra!"

At the shout of his name from one of their guides, Shadow turned his attention from Sonic over to the Indians in the front.

"O que é isso?" ( **What is it?** ) He asked.

"Outra pista do caminho do diabo à frente." ( **Another clue of the Devil's path up ahead.** )

"What did he say?" Sonic asked.

"Another clue to the Devil Dragon." Shadow answered, turning his attention to where the guide was pointing. Ever since the group had started down the river, they had been finding more and more clues to the giant lizard. Footprints, nests, droppings, and even the occasional pile of animal bones that the hedgehogs both hoped were just normal animals and not unexpecting Mobians.

Sure enough, when Shadow looked to the bank by the river, a large pile of bones sat by the bank.

"Excelente. Vamos atracar e ver mais de perto." ( **Excellent. Let's dock and get a closer look.** ) Shadow nodded.

"We're getting a closer look?" Sonic questioned.

"Yep, have to." Shadow nodded, proud of his companion for recognizing some words of the foreign language after teaching a few to him. "Gotta see how long ago our Devil Dragon has eaten, to determine how close we are to it. That's what we've been doing this whole time."

"I know," Sonic sighed, his head hanging sadly with his ears pressed to his head. "I just don't like looking at dead bodies, no matter where the bones come from."

"... Me either."

With those final words, the Indians docked the canoe and the two hedgehogs got out, approaching the pile of bones laid scattered across the ground.

The bones were picked clean of all meat and tissue and completely sun bleached white. Little traces of untouched blood scattered across the bones, some dried black, some still a little fresh.

"I'd say it was here mostly 2 to 3 days ago." Shadow observed, picking up one of the bones. "Whatever it ate, it was a pretty sturdy animal.

"Sombra! Sônica!"

Sonic and Shadow turned to their guides when they shouted their foreign names, watching them as they picked through the bones and each pulled one out in particular. The boys gasped at what the older one was holding.

"It's... it's…" Sonic couldn't speak.

"It's Mobian." Shadow finished, just as shocked.

What the Indian was holding was the skull of a Mobian fox. They could tell because of the size of the eyes and the shape of the skull. In the other Indians hands was the fox's femur bone, a single large bite made with razor sharp teeth clearly prominent. It was obvious that this poor soul was the victim of the Devil Dragon's lethal blood poisoning bite.

It was really awful to look at, Sonic couldn't take it, and he proved it as he suddenly turned away from the group and started vomiting on the ground, emptying his stomach of whatever this morning's breakfast was still digesting.

"Sonic!" Shadow gasped as he stood by his companion, unconsciously rubbing soothing circles on the blue hedgehog's back. "Are you ok?"

"Take it away, take it away!" Sonic whined, refusing to look back at the bones. "I don't wanna see that! That skull reminds me too much of Tails!"

At the mention of Sonic's adopted fox brother, Shadow suddenly understood. He hissed and quickly looked over to their guides.

"Largue o crânio e enterre os ossos." ( **Drop the skull and bury the bones.** ) He ordered. "Sonic tem um irmão mais novo que é uma raposa, isso é demais para ele." ( **Sonic has a younger brother that is a fox, this is too much for him.** )

At those news, the two Indians nodded before setting to work. However, after putting the skull down, the older Indian approached Shadow, looking like he wanted to say something.

"O que é isso?" ( **What is it?** ) The ebony hedgehog demanded as he went back to rubbing circles around Sonic's back, said azure hedgehog suddenly now hugging him, but Shadow didn't mind it. Sonic needed a hug after seeing that.

"Seu amigo parece angustiado e está começando a cair no anoitecer." ( **Your friend seems distressed and it's starting to become nightfall.** ) The Indian observed. "Talvez agora fosse um bom momento para montar acampamento e descansar para a manhã seguinte." ( **Perhaps now would be a good time to set up camp and rest for the coming morning.** )

"Aqui não." ( **Not here.** ) Sonic suddenly said, looking up at the guide. After spending three days with these Indians and learning from Shadow, he knew enough about the language to understand that the Indian wanted to set up camp, and he knew enough words to respond. "Não perto dos ossos." ( **Not near the bones.** )

"Claro." ( **Of course.** ) The Indian nodded. "Vamos viajar mais para a floresta, longe do túmulo." ( **We will travel further into the forest, away from the gravesite.** )

"Better grab your pack, Faker." Shadow gently patted Sonic's back. "We're setting up for the night, but we're gonna go a little deeper into the forest to get away from here."

"Ok." Sonic nodded before following the ebony hedgehog back to the canoe to grab their necessary supplies.

Once they had their packs and the guides had tied up the canoe, the group started making their way deeper into the jungle, making sure they marked their path by hitting the blade of the machete against a tree so that they knew how to get back to the river. As they marched forward, a new voice suddenly made them stop.

"Olá amigos."

At the greeting, the group turned their heads to see a local Mobian hyena with a female Mobian coyote companion approaching them. They both looked tired and grimy, their clothes resembling of adventure, but they had smiles on their faces as they looked at the newcomers.

"O que é um grupo como você fazendo tão longe aqui na selva?" ( **What's a group like you doing so far out here in the jungle?** ) The hyena politely asked.

"Nada que diga respeito a você, estranho." ( **Nothing that concerns you, stranger.** ) Shadow answered quickly, distrust already filling his veins. "Estamos apenas passando." ( **We're just passing through.** )

"Venha agora, não há necessidade de ser tão hostil." ( **Come now, there's no need to be so hostile.** ) The hyena chuckled. "Você claramente não é daqui. Então, o que te traz?" ( **You're clearly not from around here. So what brings you?** )

Shadow growled lowly in the back of his throat. Something about these two just screamed danger at him. However, unfortunately, Sonic didn't have the same feeling as he looked from Shadow and to the strangers.

"We're on a mission from G.U.N." He explained, assuming that that's what the hyena wanted to know.

"Sonic." Shadow hissed.

"Uma missăo, huh?" ( **A mission, huh?** ) The hyena smiled, crossing his arms over his chest. "E qual poderia ser essa missão?" ( **And what might that mission be?** )

"... Estamos procurando por uma nova espécie de animal que tenha sido recentemente vista na Amazônia." ( **We're looking for a new species of animal that's recently been spotted in the Amazon.** ) Shadow hesitantly explained. "Nós seguimos suas pegadas e parece que está indo para o Eldorado." ( **We've been following its tracks, and looks like it's headed for Eldorado.** )

The hyena smiled.

"Eldorado." He chuckled, looking to his coyote companion.

"Que legal." ( **How exciting.** ) She giggled. "Como você está chegando lá?" ( **How are you getting there?** )

"Estamos levando uma canoa até o rio para chegar lá." ( **We're taking a canoe up the river to get there.** ) One of the Indians answered before Shadow had a chance to shush him.

"Não, não, você vê meu amigo, o rio para Eldorado é um caminho perigoso." ( **No, no, you see my friend, the river to Eldorado is a dangerous course.** ) The hyena explained. "As corredeiras estão sempre à frente, o que pode ser perigoso para navegar sem experiência." ( **Rapids are straight up ahead which can be dangerous to navigate without experience.** )

"What's he saying, Shads?" Sonic quietly asked.

"He's saying that there are dangerous rapids in the river up ahead to Eldorado."

"D-dangerous r-rapids?" Sonic shook, terrified just thinking about falling into one of those.

"No entanto, posso ajudá-lo." ( **However, I may be able to help you.** ) The hyena continued. "Você vê, eu sou um explorador experiente que lidou com muitas corredeiras no meu tempo. Se você estiver disposto, posso assumir como seu guia e orientá-lo pelas corredeiras à frente." ( **You see, I'm an experienced explorer that has dealt with many river rapids in my time. If you are willing, I can take over as your guide and coach you through the rapids up ahead.** )

"He's offering to be our guide through the rapids." Shadow explained to Sonic.

"Do you really think he can get us through?" Sonic asked.

"... I'm not sure."

"... Well, I say we should at least give him a chance." Sonic suggested before looking to the hyena. "Sim." ( **Yes.** )

"Maravilhoso!" ( **Wonderful!** ) The hyena clapped before Shadow could say anything. "Venha, siga-me de volta ao nosso acampamento. Podemos descansar antes de ir para as corredeiras amanhã." ( **Come, follow me back to our camp. We can rest up before heading for the rapids tomorrow.** )

…

That night, while Sonic and the Indians slept, Shadow laid awake in the hammock that he was sharing with the blue hedgehog. The hyena only had the one spare in case he and the coyote came across a lone traveler lost in the jungle. Sonic had immediately offered the hammock to Shadow, claiming he'll be perfectly comfortable on the ground, but Shadow knew that was a lie. The ground wasn't very comfortable at all. He had insisted that Sonic sleep in the hammock instead, and suddenly, they were in this position, with Shadow lying awake with his hands behind his head, while Sonic slept soundly, unconsciously cuddling up to the ebony hedgehog.

Shadow never thought he would find himself this way, but for some strange reason he didn't mind it. Maybe he was just cutting the blue some slack, he had a pretty rough day today.

However, this was not what was keeping him awake though. His thoughts were on the hyena and the coyote. He didn't trust them for some odd reason. It was strange to see them so far away from civilization. Sure, the hyena said he was an adventurer, but something about their approach just kept sending warning flags in the ebony's head. It certainly didn't help when the two suddenly got up and went into the jungle together.

Suddenly, the hedgehog had the strangest urge to go check up on things, to make sure everything was ok. Being as carefully quiet as he could, Shadow got up from the hammock without disturbing Sonic and tiptoed into the forest after the two strange Mobians. As he got closer, he could hear their voices, laughing and joking loudly to each other. Finally, he saw them just a few feet away. He jumped behind some ferns before they could see him, as he watched from a distance.

"Eles são tolos para pensar que eles podem realmente chegar a Eldorado." ( **They're fools to think that they can actually reach Eldorado.** ) The coyote laughed as she took a swig of cheap rum from a bottle.

"Ah, mas veja, não é para isso que eles estão aqui." ( **Ah, but you see, that's not what they're here for.** ) The hyena chuckled, taking the rum as the coyote passed it to him. "Eles estão aqui pelo Dragão do Diabo." ( **They're here for the Devil Dragon.** )

Shadow inwardly gasped at that. How did he know about the Devil Dragon?

"E isso é outra coisa." ( **And that's another thing.** ) The coyote rolled her eyes. "Eles não viram os restos de Trails' ao longo da margem do rio depois que ele finalmente sucumbiu à mordida do diabo?" ( **Did they not see Trails' remains over by the river bank after he finally succumbed to the Devil's bite?** )

"Oh não, eles fizeram. Voltei para conferir a canoa e descobri que haviam enterrado seus ossos na areia." ( **Oh no, they did. I went back to check out their canoe, and I discovered that they had buried his bones in the sand.** )

Now this was suspicious. If they knew that poor fox, then perhaps the hammock wasn't a spare after all.

"Talvez você esteja certo." ( **Perhaps you're right.** ) The hyena continued before taking another swig of rum. "Talvez eles sejam realmente idiotas." ( **Perhaps they really are just idiots.** )

Shadow couldn't help but lowly growl at the insult. Thankfully, he was too far away for them to hear him.

"Eu digo que, se eles forem mortos de qualquer maneira, nós devemos apenas colocá-los fora de sua miséria." ( **I say, that if they're just gonna get themselves killed anyway, we should just put them out of their misery.** )

"Mas e os indianos?" ( **But what about the Indians?** )

"Você realmente acha que eles vão se importar com um par de ouriços Mobian?" ( **Do you really think they're gonna care about a couple of Mobian hedgehogs?** )

The coyote stared at the hyena, a mischievous glint in her eyes. The hyena stared back, and he smiled.

"Não, suponho que não." ( **No, I suppose not.** ) He answered. The coyote chuckled.

"Então, quem vai ser o único a fazer isso?" ( **So, who's gonna be the one to do it?** ) She asked.

"Eu vou fazer isso. Eu vou cortar suas gargantas durante o sono. ... Mas primeiro…" ( **I'll do it. I'll slit their throats in their sleep. ... But first…** )

Suddenly, a harsh wind blew past Shadow's face, causing him to give a startled yelp. He heard something hit a tree behind him, and he turned to see what it was. His eyes couldn't believe it. He had barely just dodged a machete to the face! His attention quickly whipped back over to the locals, his eyes widening when he saw them staring directly at him.

"Você realmente achou que nós não sabíamos que você estava lá?" ( **Did you really think we didn't know you were there?** ) The hyena growled. "Acho melhor você pensar em mudar a cor das suas listras. O vermelho é um morto doar." ( **I think you better consider changing the color of your stripes. The red is a dead give away.** )

For the first time in his life, Shadow cursed the color of his stripes. Thinking quickly, Shadow turned back and ran as quick as he could through the obstacle course that was the jungle, grabbing the machete back as he passed it. He could hear the hyena and coyote quickly following him from behind, but even if he wasn't running at his mach speed, he was still able to leave them behind.

Shadow quickly got back to camp and went over to Sonic, thinking about his sleeping companion first. He had promised to protect him, and he wasn't about to break it now.

"Sonic!" He cried to the azure hedgehog. "Sonic, wake up!"

"Huh?" Sonic grumbled sleepily, opening his eyes to see Shadow staring fearfully down at him. "Shadow? What's going on?"

"We were wrong about the strangers." Shadow explained quickly. "I just overheard a conversation between them. They're gonna kill us, Sonic!"

Seeing and hearing the fear within Shadow was all that Sonic needed to believe him as his eyes suddenly shot open, looking as if he had been awake the whole time without needing sleep.

"Oh dear lord Chaos!" He gasped.

"Quick, grab your bag and let's go before they get here!" Shadow ordered as he pick up both of their bags, handing Sonic his.

"What about the Indians?" Sonic asked as he put his bag on.

"They don't care about them, it's only us they're after. Come on, we gotta go!"

Sonic nodded and quickly followed Shadow through the jungle back to the river, whimpering when he suddenly heard angry shouts coming from behind him. Oh, how he wished they could run faster without worrying about tripping over jungle roots.

"Shads, they're coming!"

"Keep running, we're almost there!"

And just like that, they were back at the bank where they started. Wasting no time, the two hedgehogs threw their bags into the canoe and untied the rope, working together to push the boat into the water. Once it was in, they quickly climbed into the canoe and began to paddle away from the shore, quickly reaching the middle of the river where the two canine Mobians couldn't reach them.

"They won't be able to get us from here." Shadow sighed in relief.

"Yeah, but now we have another problem." Sonic pointed out.

"And what's that?"

"We're in the middle of the Amazon Rainforest, in the middle of the Amazon River, at night time and with no guides."

"Don't worry Sonic," Shadow smiled reassuringly. "We'll paddle just a little further up the river to surely be away from the strangers and then we'll dock and set up camp. Then, in the morning, we'll go over the map and our supplies to see what we got. We can survive this without guides. They've taught us enough, don't you think?"

With that, Shadow grabbed his paddle and began rowing through the water. Sonic sighed and brought up his own paddle, rowing in tune with the ebony hedgehog.

"I hope you're right, Shads."


	9. Rapid Struggle

**Chapter 9: Rapid Struggle**

 _Day 8_

Sonic took the tin cup and dipped it into the Amazon River, bringing it back up once it was full. He scrambled back up the bank, where Shadow was sitting by the small fire they had made, reading the map with intense concentration. The azure hedgehog placed the cup onto the fire, watching the water boil until it was at a bubbling point before pouring two servings of rice in the water.

"So, if I'm reading this correctly, we should be right here." Shadow announced as he pointed to a spot somewhere halfway down the Amazon River. Sonic looked over the hedgehog's shoulder to see where he was pointing. "And Eldorado is supposed to be somewhere at the end of the river, right?"

"That's what the stories say." Sonic nodded.

"Excellent, we're nearly halfway there, and closer to the creature than before. How are our supplies doing?"

"Well, let me see." Sonic frowned as he looked through the supplies in his bag. "We have about a can and a half of insect repellent. The rope is still going strong. Lighter still has plenty of fluid left in it. We have a bit more rice left. The machete, still sharp, and we hadn't needed the first aid kit yet, so that's still full. If I had to estimate, if we ration properly, our supplies should be able to last us for about 2 weeks, maybe even longer."

"Perfect," Shadow nodded, folding the map and putting it away. "Then let's finish our breakfast quickly and get this show on the road. It's just you and me now, Sonic, but we can manage. Right?"

"Right Shads." Sonic smiled, holding up his trademark thumbs up. "Nothing can bring us down."

…

A few hours later, Sonic and Shadow were paddling through the river in their canoe, continuing their journey deeper into uncharted miles of the Amazon. Like before, every mile or so, they would stop and dock the boat, looking for clues to the Devil Dragon, or taking needed breaks.

The last break they had, Shadow was coming back from the jungle when Sonic called out to him.

"Shadow, look at this!" He called to the ebony hedgehog.

Shadow frowned with interest as he approached the younger hedgehog, looking to where he was pointing. He couldn't hide the surprised gasp he gave when he saw another five foot wide footprint of the giant lizard, this one a bit fresher.

"It's still partly fresh." Sonic frowned as he pulled off a glove and felt the mud with his fingers. He looked up at Shadow. "What are you thinking?"

"That we're getting close." Shadow nodded.

Now, the two were back on the river, paddling with as much strength as they could through the fighting waters, which was strange to them. The water had been mostly calm since they started their journey. Why was the river suddenly getting stronger and faster? As they turned a corner in the river, they had their answer.

Rapids.

Big, dangerous rapids filled with strong, white frothing water, splashing against sharp rocks sticking out of the water. The river was so shallow here, that the hedgehogs could see the bottom whenever the water jumped.

"You think those are the rapids the hyena was telling us about?" Sonic gulped, clearly nervous.

"More than likely." Shadow nodded.

"How are we gonna get through?"

Shadow was thinking. The rapids were highly dangerous, too dangerous to attempt paddling through them. There were a lot of them too, and look extremely strong, it may take them a few days to get through them. But how to do it in the first place? There was only one way.

"Sonic, you're not gonna like this."

"Oh no, what now?"

"These rapids are too dangerous to try paddling the canoe through. With one strong wave, the canoe will hit one of the rocks and shatter, but there is a way we can get through." Shadow sighed and looked to Sonic, giving him the most sympathetic look he could muster. "We're gonna have to get out and pull the canoe through. The water is shallow enough for us to see where to put our feet, so we won't slip. It may take a few days because of how large these rapids are, but I know we can do it."

Sonic's body immediately started to tremble. Shadow had to be joking, right? Get out and pull the canoe through? In those rapids? It was suicide! There's no way they'd be able to make it through that! Was there?

The more Sonic thought about it, the more he realized Shadow was right. It was their only option. Either that, or continue on foot, which would take them longer to reach Eldorado. Finally, he sighed and nodded.

"Alright, let's do it."

"Really?" Shadow was shocked. "You're not gonna fight me on this?"

"Of course not. It's like you said, it's our only option. Besides… I trust you."

Shadow felt a warm pinging sensation in his chest when he heard Sonic say that. He trusted him? Sonic's never trusted him before. He guessed it was his own fault. He did like to play dirty most of the time.

Shadow smiled and nodded, liking this new feeling. He didn't wanna lose it, so he was determined to keep Sonic's trust.

"Alright then. I'll take the responsibility of pushing the boat from behind. Sonic, I want you up front pulling on it, that way, if you accidently let go and slip, I'll be able to catch you if the river tries taking you away."

"Sounds good to me, Shads. Let's do this."

…

 _Day 10_

Three days is exactly how long it took for the hedgehog duo to get their canoe through the rapids. There were a lot more rapids in this ride than they realized. On the third day, they were exhausted but they continued to pull through. They were on the finally stretch, Sonic pulling from the front while Shadow pushed from behind. They were soaked and sore, but they were almost through.

Finally, after what seemed like months, the two hedgehogs gave it all they got and got the canoe past the final rapid.

"WOOHOO!" Shadow couldn't help but cheer, sending amused snickers through his companion. "We finally did it! Nothing but smooth sailing now!"

"Wow Shads," Sonic chuckled. "Am I rubbing off on ya?"

"No," Shadow raised an eyeridge in confusion. "What? Am I not allowed to be excited?"

"It's just that, I've never seen you this way before."

"Well, better get used to seeing a lot more than that, Faker. After all, we're stuck here until the month is over. And I already said I wanted to try and make friends with you. Doesn't that mean getting to know each other?"

"Yeah, you have a point."

Sonic and Shadow chuckled together before the ebony sighed.

"Alright then hedgehog, time to get back up and running." He said as he started climbing back onto the boat.

"Umm…" Sonic hesitated, looking back from the boat and to the rapids behind. "Don't you think we should pull the canoe a little further away from the rapids?"

"Nonsense." Shadow shook his head. "We're far enough away that we can paddle away from them. Nothing to worry about. Bow get up here."

Sonic sighed and climbed back onto the boat with Shadow, grabbing his paddle as Shadow did the same, a heavy feeling unable to leave his stomach.

The two hedgehogs dipped their paddles into the river and began rowing, or, well, attempting to.

They paddled and they paddled, but they didn't seem to be going anywhere. They tried paddling faster and harder, and suddenly, they were moving, but not the way they wanted to go.

"The rapids are pulling us back!" Sonic shouted, dread filling the pit of his stomach. "I told you we should've pulled away farther!"

"Nevermind that now, we need to keep this boat afloat!" Shadow shouted back. Honestly, he was ashamed of himself. Why hadn't he listened to his companion? It wasn't like he offered anything bad, he just wanted to pull the canoe a little further away from the rapids, why hadn't he done so?! Now they were paying the price for his stubbornness! "Paddle Sonic! We can't hit the rocks!"

Sonic and Shadow were panicking as they paddled through the water, trying to keep their canoe afloat and avoid hitting the rocks. They couldn't risk it. They would lose so much if they did. The water roared in their ears and splashed in their faces as it rocked the boat, spinning them around and around.

Suddenly…

 **BWAM!**

The hedgehogs cried out as the canoe hit one of the rocks jutting out of the water, shattering on impact. The boat toppled over, dumping everything it held into the water. Sonic and Shadow, along with all of their needed supplies, were swept down the river. Unable to concentrate on anything but themselves and each other, the hedgehogs paid no attention to their lot items and continued to fight through the water, trying to get to each other.

The rapids pushed and pulled the hedgehogs around, smashing their bodies against the rocks and pulling them underwater. They struggled against the water, crying out to each other when their heads broke the surface. Eventually, Shadow's body finally washed up against the shore and he grabbed onto the bank, coughing and sputtering out the water he had consumed. He held his body tightly as he stood up, shaking from the effort. As battered as he was, he forced himself to turn around in search of Sonic, but he was met with a terrifying sight as he realized that he couldn't spot the azure hedgehog anywhere!

"Sonic! Sonic!" He called desperately, but he was met with silence.

Shadow continued to call his companion's name, hoping, praying, practically BEGGING for a reply… he got none. Shadow couldn't believe it.

"Sonic…" He whimpered pitifully as he fell to his knees, placing his head in his arms on the ground.

He just couldn't believe it! He was lost, alone in the Amazon Rainforest. He had lost everything. The gun, the map, the supplies, the communication with G.U.N headquarters. But most importantly… Sonic… his only friend in this messed up world. He had promised. He had promised to protect him, to be there for him during this mission… and he had failed.

With this horrible realization, Shadow sat up on his knees and gave out a loud anguished cry, tears rolling down his face, filled with self-hatred.


	10. Separated

**Chapter 10: Seperated**

 _Day 11_

Water splashed against Sonic's face as he slowly started to wake up. Groaning, the azure hedgehog sat up, holding a hand against his pounding head. He blinked his eyes open and looked around. He was on the river bank, the river washing him ashore after that wild rapid ride. Suddenly remembering the horrible event, Sonic snapped to full attention and jumped up, swerving his body around every which way and that, searching for Shadow… but he was alone.

"Shadow…" He whimpered, not liking the idea of being alone in the jungle he was unfamiliar with. Then, he gasped in terror as he realized something else.

Not only was he alone in the Amazon, but all of his supplies were gone too!

"No, no, no, no, no!" He cried, stepping as close to the river as he could get without falling in, hoping that he would be able to spot his bag floating in the river, but no such luck.

Sonic whimpered, his ears dropping to his head as he hugged his body and backed away from the river, spinning around in terror as he took in his surroundings. He was lost, alone and vulnerable. No food or water. No fuel to start up a fire at night. And worse of all, without the insect repellent, he was prone to malaria.

"Come on Sonic, get a hold of yourself." The azure hedgehog hissed to himself, giving himself a few good slaps to the face. "This is no time to panic. You have to think. What is your best chance of survival right now?"

Sonic sat on the ground and proceeded to think. He had no idea how far back the river had taken him, but he knew sitting here doing nothing would not benefit him at all. He decided that his only chance of survival was to proceed back up the river on foot, in hopes of finding help, or better yet, Shadow.

"But which way do I go?" He wondered aloud, looking at the still water, the river giving no indication on which way was upriver.

Then, suddenly, Sonic had an idea. Remembering what the Indian guides had taught him and Shadow, Sonic looked around his general area, until he found a good decent sized stick. He picked it up and approached the water, pulling his arm back before throwing the stick into the water. Upon impact, the stick began to float down the river, revealing which way the blue speedster should go. Smiling, Sonic turned the opposite direction the stick was floating, and began the long trek back up to river, hoping to find Shadow on this journey.

…

Shadow, not having moved from his spot on the bank by the rapids, continued to wallow in his self-pity, hating himself more and more after each passing minute. He had been considering just letting himself sit here and rot, feeling like he deserved it after failing to protect Sonic like he had promised. Not only that, but he also thought it was best that he stayed where no one could ever find him again, so there was less potential chance that the ebony hedgehog would find and lose another person he cared about.

First Maria. Then Molly. And now Sonic.

Why did the world hate him?

Suddenly, Shadow shot up into a sitting position, a frown on his face. Something was telling him to stop being such a baby, to get up and go find him. But, how could he? Surely Sonic had drowned in the river. He couldn't swim after all.

 _Get up and go find him._

Shadow frowned and stood up, turning his direction downriver. If Sonic was still alive… he was gonna find him, no matter what it took.

Taking a deep breath, Shadow began walking down the river, a deep hope in the pit of his stomach that he would be able to find the blue hedgehog. As he started to walk though, Shadow failed to notice a large pair of golden eyes, watching him as it followed through the jungle.

…

After about an hour of walking, Sonic was starting to feel hungry and dehydrated. He had considered going into the jungle and finding some of that "Miracle Fruit", but he had no idea on where to find it, and he didn't want to get too far from the river or else he got lost. Looking to the river, he was beginning to wonder what would happen if he drank some of it without boiling it for safety first.

Not wanting to risk it, Sonic shook his head as he continued on.

The azure hero continued to walk, climbing up banks and scrambling over rocks. He had stopped for only a moment, when he suddenly heard a metallic sound.

Twitching his ears, Sonic listened more closely, trying to decipher what it was and where it was coming from. It sounded like something metallic scraping against the rocks right up ahead. Frowning in curiosity, Sonic walked over to the rocks, turning the corner to see just what it was he was hearing. When he saw what it was, he couldn't believe his eyes.

In a small pool, trapped against the rocks, floating in the water with the help of the empty tin cans tied to it, was Sonic's bag!

Sonic squealed with delightful excitement as he quickly snatched his bag out of the water, carrying it with him up to the bank. He quickly opened the bag and brought out the first thing that was on his mind… the insect repellent.

Throughout his journey, he had had a few mosquitos come up to him, trying to attack him due to the river washing his repellent off before. Terrified about the chance of malaria, the hedgehog had swatted them before they had even a chance to bite him, but he knew he couldn't fight them off for long. So, taking the more than half empty insect repellent, Sonic began spraying his whole entire body with it, covering himself from head to toe with the protector. By the time be was done, the can was empty, but he wasn't too worried, there was still a whole 'nother can in the bag.

As Sonic looked through his bag, he couldn't believe his luck. Everything was still there! If he could find Shadow, then they still had a chance of surviving the rainforest!

So, feeling more confident than before, Sonic got himself situated and began his search for the ebony hedgehog again.

…

Back with Shadow, the ebony hedgehog was travelling down the river in hopes of finding Sonic still alive and well. He had grabbed a large walking stick to help him climb over the large rocks by the riverbank, as he was still pretty battered from the rapids yesterday.

The ebony was also aware of something following him now. He could sense their presence, and it did not feel friendly. He had thought about lashing out at them in a attempt to get them to show themselves, but he thought better of it. It wasn't a threat… for now.

As Shadow continued walking, he suddenly came up to a problem. A large canyon wall was blocking his path.

"No!" He hissed, slamming his hand against the rock.

The rock was too big and too steep for him to climb. Without his Chaos Emerald, he couldn't just simply teleport to the other side. The ebony let out a sigh. There was no other choice.

He was gonna have to leave the path and venture into the jungle to get around, and just pray that he would be able to get back to the river on the other side.

"Just hang on, Sonic. I'm coming."

…

Night has at last fallen, and Sonic can no longer go on. It is too dangerous to try walking an unfamiliar path in the dark, so he must stop and make camp for the night.

Using the techniques that their earlier guides had taught them, Sonic was able to make a nice little shelter using branches, twigs, and leaves. As he crawled into his makeshift tent, he noticed, that without Shadow, he was more vulnerable to the predators of the night.

The poor hedgehog could not get any sleep. The sounds of the night were terrifying to him alone. His only weapon of defense was a machete, but even that could only do so much.

Suddenly, Sonic heard a new sound. A type of growl rumbling a little distance in front of him. Scared out of his mind, Sonic pulled out the lighter and flick on its flame, his voice getting caught in his throat as he came face to face with the gleaming jade eyes of the most fiercest predator of the Amazon.

A jaguar.

Sonic sat stock still as he stared at the big cat in terror. The jaguar stared back, its growl rumbling deeply in the back of its throat, licking its sandpaper pink tongue over large yellow fangs. A single bite to the back of the head from this animal could kill Sonic in an instant.

 _No_ He thought suddenly, a frown forming on his face. _Not today._

With one swift movement, he acted on instinct. The azure hedgehog grabbed the insect repellent, held it up to the flame and sprayed it at the jaguar. When the chemicals of the repellent hit the flame it immediately caught fire, creating a makeshift blowtorch that singed the jaguar's fur and scared it off.

Sonic screamed the whole entire time until the flame finally died down and he was able to see that the cat was gone. Sighing in relief, Sonic laid down in his shelter, exhaustion catching up to him as he fell into a restless sleep.


	11. What Do I Do Now?

**Chapter 11: What Do I Do Now?**

 _Day 12_

The next morning, Sonic slowly opened his eyes as he awoke. He was completely drained, his sleep having been restless for his fear of the jaguar or some other predator finding him. He was so tired, he barely had the strength to even push himself off the ground. His arms shook so much as he pushed himself up, that they slipped on the ground, his body flopping back down.

Sonic panted at the effort. Why was he so weak all of a sudden?

"Maybe… just a few more minutes." He said to himself, his eyes closing into sleep again, unaware of the danger coming right for him.

…

The ebony hedgehog grunted as he pushed through more ferns. He still had yet to find the river again, and he was growing anxious the more he stayed away from it.

"Come on, where _are_ you?" He hissed to himself as he pushed through the jungle.

The hedgehog hadn't thought he went _that_ far into the jungle to circle around the canyon, but the big slab of rock blocking his path was a bit larger than he thought. Shadow was actually starting to get worried. What if he never found the river? Would he ever find Sonic again? Was Sonic even _alive_ right now? Shadow had no way of knowing an answer to any of these questions.

"Just keep pushing forward, Shads." Shadow said to himself, jumping when he realized that he just called himself by Sonic's nickname for him. _Why did I just call myself that? Maybe he really is rubbing off on me._

Shadow pushed through another bush and stopped. His ears twitched from side to side as he detected sounds up ahead. He leaned his ears forward, a frown of concentration on his face as he tried to depict what it was.

Suddenly, his eyes widened and he gasped when he finally realized what the sound was.

Trickling water from the river!

Quickly, the ebony hedgehog pushed through the jungle, getting closer and closer to the river. As he pushed through the last bits of fern, he smiled and laughed joyfully when he saw the river right in front of him.

"Ha! I knew I'd find it again." Shadow humphed with a smile. "Now to get back to Sonic."

Shadow turned to follow the river downwards again, when something caught his eye.

It was a tree, but there was something off about it. As Shadow stepped closer to it, he suddenly realized what it was. There a was a mark on its trunk, clearly made by a machete.

"Well I'll be damned." Shadow frowned. "His little tactic with the tin cans worked after all."

Of course, Shadow was only talking about Sonic, as the ebony knew that the blue was the only one he knew who was carrying the machete with his supplies. But as he marveled at this fact, he noticed another.

If a machete mark was here on _this_ tree, then where was Sonic?

"He must be trying to find me too!" He gasped, turning back the way he came. "And he must be leaving marks on the trees for me to see in case we overpass each other!"

Thinking over this logic, Shadow looked around to see if there were anymore marked trunks. Finally, he found one that was about ten feet away from the previous one.

Determined, Shadow started to follow the marked trees, in hopes that they would lead him to Sonic.

…

Back with Sonic, the said hedgehog was still sleeping in his little shelter that he built only just last night. The blue blur still had yet to wake up after his failed attempt earlier that morning, but that honestly wasn't gonna be a problem for much longer.

Suddenly, Sonic felt a sharp bite on his arm. He yelped and smacked at the area, bringing his hand back to reveal a little bit of blood on his hand and a small hole on his arm. He yelped again as he felt another bite on his leg, then on his other arm, then on his back, tail, legs!

"What the hell?!" The azure hedgehog yelled as he sat up. He looked around to figure out what was attacking him, and he gasped.

Right in front of him, surrounding his whole entire camp, was a swarming red carpet of ants! But not just any ants… leaf-cutter ants!

Sonic remembered how Karl had said that their pincers were strong enough to bite through leather, and right now, they were biting through his soft, delicate skin!

"AAAAAAAHHHHH!" He cried out as the ants continued to eat him alive. He jumped up to his feet and began shaking himself off, trying to dislodge the many ants that were already crawling all over his body. He smacked at his body in various places, sweeping or killing the ants that dared to touch him. In his haste to save himself, he reached into his bag and pulled out the insect repellent again. Ants were insects, so this should help, right?

Sonic couldn't think straight, he was panicking too much. He took the insect repellent and started spraying his body and all around him, trying to get the ants to scatter away from him… they kept coming.

"GET OFF OF ME!" The blue hero screamed, still swatting and spraying at the ants.

Alas, Sonic couldn't take it anymore. The swarm just kept coming, so he did the only other thing he knew how to do.

Run.

Quickly, doing a quick sweepover his pack, the hedgehog grabbed his backpack and started running upriver, trying to get as far away from the leaf-cutter ants as he could. Some still stuck to his body, but he easily slapped them away when he felt their pincers go through his skin. After about maybe 20 minutes, Sonic finally stopped running, and for the first time since he's ever run in his life, he doubled over himself, hands on his knees as he panted, fear washing over him as he tried to catch his breath.

"never again… never again… never again…" He whispered to himself, clearly delusional after the whole ordeal.

The hedgehog dropped the insect repellent that he still had in his hand, knowing full well that after his crazy panic attack, the only can left was already empty. This struck even more fear into his heart, because now, it was even more prominent that he would get malaria before the mission was even over.

"What do I do now?"

 **...**

Back with Shadow, the ebony hedgehog was still following the trees that had machete marks on them, which seemed to be appearing less and less the more he followed them.

"Why is Faker spacing these out so much?" He wondered aloud. "Is he that confident that I'll just _know_ where he's going?"

Before Shadow could ponder anymore on these thoughts, he looked ahead and saw another mark on another tree. Shrugging his shoulders, he sped up to the tree to continue the path. But as he got closer to it, he noticed something off.

Shadow slowed down to a walk as he studied the tree, then the surrounding area around it. Everything looked exactly the same, like it should in a jungle, but there was just something really familiar about this tree.

Then suddenly, he heard it.

His head swiveled to the sound and he gasped in shock at the river that he could've sworn he left behind when he started following the machete marks. Quickly, Shadow looked down to the ground, and he made a small yelp of surprise when he saw footprints, but not just any footprints… _his_ footprints.

"This whole time… I've been going around… in CIRCLES?!" He screeched at himself, feeling so stupid about his mistake. "SONIC WHERE ARE YOU?!"

Like before, the ebony got no answer. Shadow sighed as he placed his head in his hands, a deep sense of longing filling his heart.

"What do I do now?"


	12. Together Again

**A/N: This chapter may seem a little short, but this was on purpose. I wanted this chapter to just focus on the sweet moment between Sonic and Shadow when they finally find each other again. And plus, I wanted there to be a little build up before the next chapter after what happens at the end of this one.**

 **Chapter 12: Together Again**

 _Day 15_

It's been five days since the two hedgehogs had been separated, and any hopes of finding each other had started to diminish. As they travel by the river, they call out each other's names, but sadly, they are met with silence.

Sonic is moving more slowly now. His ant bites have healed without complications thanks to the first aid kit in his bag, but the young hedgehog is suffering from malnourishment after discovering that the ants had chewed through the rice bag, scattering the rice that was supposed to be the hedgehogs food source and making it inedible. But even worse, Sonic the Hedgehog has also been bitten by a few mosquitos already. He is quite sure he has already gotten the Malaria disease. The effects just haven't shown themselves yet.

With Shadow, things weren't looking too good for him either.

The thing following him before was still following him, making the ebony hedgehog jumpy and paranoid at every sound, unsure if it was just a normal Amazonian animal… or the Devil Dragon.

Not only that, but even as the ultimate lifeform, Shadow is still prone to the harshness of the jungle, and with all the walking through the wet jungle he has been doing, without stopping to give his feet a rest, Shadow the Hedgehog now has trench foot.

"Sonic!" Shadow called out once more. Again, the poor hedgehog is met with silence. He whimpers as he looks around. He can feel his eyes filling with tears again as the thought of losing the blue hedgehog for good re-enters his mind. "Where are you?"

Shadow sighed and sat down on the ground. He felt foolish. There was no way Sonic was still alive out here. If he hadn't drowned in the river, then surely the predators of the jungle had already gotten him then. Sonic wasn't like him. He wasn't an ultimate lifeform, and he was not immortal. He was vulnerable, and at the most the hedgehog thought, very, very dead.

Shadow couldn't take it anymore.

He screamed in a pitiful mixture of anger and sadness, tears streaming down his face as he cried out the blue hedgehog's name, only to have it echo right back at him. He shouted in anger, throwing Chaos Spears at every direction in his tantrum, not caring about where the energies of Chaos hit. He only broke out of his mental breakdown when he started hearing twigs snapping and leaves rustling.

He turned towards the sound and growled, knowing full well it was the creature that has been following him this whole time. He couldn't stand it anymore. He was tired, angry, and devastated. He was in no mood to play this creature's game.

"Well, come on then!" He shouted at it. "Come out here and take me if you want me so bad! Stop following me! Stop trying to scare me, and just kill me already!"

In his rage, he challenged his energy into his palm to create another Chaos Spear, sending it directly towards the noise. What he didn't expect though, was a response.

"Woah!" A voice cried out as they clearly dodged the attack. "I know that attack anywhere. Shadow?!"

"Sonic?!"

Sure enough, out of the ferns right in front of the ebony hedgehog, a blue hedgehog stepped out, holding a G.U.N military backpack covered in tin cans on his back, and a walking stick in his hand. And despite how dull the blue was and how weak the hedgehog looked, it was clear to Shadow, that this was Sonic.

As the two laid eyes on each other for the first time after five days of being separated, all hell broke loose. Tears filled their eyes as they dropped absolutely everything onto the ground and ran up to each other, embracing each other in a tight tearful hug.

"Oh Shadow!" Sonic sobbed into the ebony's white chest fur. "I was so scared! I thought I lost you!"

"Me?! I thought I lost _you_!" Shadow scoffed through his tears as he held onto the azure body tightly. "Do you have any idea how worried I was?! You're not like me Sonic! I thought you were dead! But I never stopped looking! I never gave up!"

"I never stopped either! I knew I would find you eventually! But I was just so frightened! You have no idea what I went through these last five days!"

"I don't care! I'm just glad that you're ok, and that I have you back!"

"Oh Shadow!"

"Oh Sonic!"

Suddenly, without warning, Shadow grabbed onto Sonic's face and lifted it up to his, staring directly into emerald green eyes filled with tears of relief, fear, and sadness. Sonic stared back into Shadow's ruby red eyes, filled with the exact same tears. Shadow smiled and laughed quietly through little hiccups as he suddenly started kissing Sonic's face all over. Quick little pecks all over Sonic's cheeks and forehead.

Sonic had to admit, the action really surprised him, but at the moment, he didn't care. Butterflies began to fill his stomach as Shadow continued to kiss him, relaxing his muscles to lean into the ebony hedgehog's touch. When Shadow finally stopped, they looked at each other, muzzles completely red from the event, but smiling nonetheless.

"Uh, sorry if that was going a little too far." Shadow quietly chuckled, butterflies filling his own stomach. "Maria used to do that to me whenever I was upset."

"I don't mind." Sonic shook his head. "My mother used to do the exact same thing."

"Why is it that it always makes us feel better?"

"I think it's because it lets us know that they care. Kinda like when I do this."

Suddenly, Sonic grabbed Shadow's head and brought it closer to him, laying a gentle kiss onto the ebony's forehead. It wasn't as much as what Shadow did to him, but it was still just as sweet.

"Yeah… I definitely feel better now." Shadow smiled warmly.

"I do too."

The sweet moment between the two hedgehogs however was suddenly then interrupted when something struck out of the ferns right towards Shadow.

The crimson streaked hedgehog screamed out in pain when he suddenly felt a thousand sharp fangs digging into his leg. As quick as it happened, it suddenly stopped as the creature let go and slunk back into the shadows of the jungle, watching as it's prey fell to the ground in pain.


	13. Bitten

**Chapter 13: Bitten**

 _Day 15, Part 2_

"Shadow!" Sonic cried out as he watched the ebony hedgehog in front of him fall to the ground, screaming in pain as he clutched at his now bleeding leg. "What happened?!"

"Something bit me!"

Slightly panicking, Sonic ran back to his backpack and grabbed it, rummaging through it until he found the first aid kit. Once he had it in his hands, he ran back to Shadow, kneeling down next to him.

"What bit you? Did you see it?" He asked frantically as he started treating the wound.

Shadow cringed and hissed in pain each time Sonic touched the bite with the alcohol wipe, carefully cleaning the blood away.

"No, I didn't see it." He shook his head. "But I have a pretty good idea of what it was."

"What?"

"For the past five days, while I was looking for you, something has been following me. I'm not sure what it is, but it's definitely hostile, if this doesn't prove it enough."

"Definitely." Sonic agreed, examining the bite carefully. "Strange…"

"What is it?" Shadow asked, looking down at his leg while Sonic continued to work with it.

"These bite marks almost look familiar. Like… we've seen them recently."

At this set of news, Shadow sat up and looked at his leg, examining the bitemark himself. As he looked at it, his eyes widened in shock and fear. Sonic looked up and noticed the frightened look displayed on the ebony's face.

"Shadow? What's wrong?"

"Sonic… do you remember about a week ago… we found that pile of Mobian fox bones?"

Sonic sighed sadly, his eyes downcast with his ears pressed against his head.

"Yes. It was so horrible to look at."

"Well, do you remember the femur bone that one of the Indians held up? How it was covered in bites?"

"Yes?"

"Sonic… that was no random Mobian." Shadow gulped. "When I was spying on the hyena and the coyote, I overheard that the bones belonged to their companion named Trails, and that he had been bitten by the Devil Dragon."

At these news, Sonic was silent. He had a horrible feeling that he knew where Shadow was going with this, but he didn't want to believe it.

"What are you saying, Shads?" The blue shook, tears forming at the corners of his eyes again. "That… that the Devil Dragon just _bit_ you… without us seeing it?!"

"You said it yourself, Faker, the bite is the exact same!"

"But that can't be possible! Charles said that the Devil Dragon is supposed to be at least 23 feet long in length, with a weight of 1,370 pounds! That's HUGE Shadow! There's no way we wouldn't have seen that!"

"You forget Faker, it's a giant monitor lizard, similar to the Komodo Dragon. They are quick and stealthy. It is not unheard of for them to attack and then disappear without a trace."

Sonic was shaking, scared all over again. He knew Shadow was right, even Sonic knew that much about Komodo Dragons, and if the Devil Dragon was anything like the modern lizards today, then it really wouldn't be that impossible.

"What do we do then?" He hiccuped, looking back up at Shadow with scared bloodshot eyes. "You said so yourself before, Shads, you're prone to the harshness of the jungle as well, and you just got bit by a giant lizard with a mouth covered in lethal bacteria that makes a perfect weapon for blood poisoning. If we don't get you to a hospital, you could die!"

"I won't die that easily, Faker." Shadow smiled reassuringly. "I'm immortal with a crazy high immune system, remember? But you're right. I do need medical attention. The blood poisoning may not kill me, but I can still suffer from the side effects."

"What side effects?"

"Side effects like high fevers, hallucinations, rapid breathing. Stuff like that. But don't worry, Sonic. With my immune system, it's going to take quite a long while for any of that to come up. We'll be outta here before then."

"Promise?" Sonic whimpered, holding up that same pinky that Shadow had wrapped his own around so tightly just last week.

Shadow smiled gently, his eyes half lidded as he stared at the childish gesture he remembered so clearly. He brought up his pinky and wrapped it around Sonic's, his ruby eyes staring directly into Sonic's emerald ones.

"I promise."

Sonic smiled and chuckled, relieved that Shadow was still willing to do this childish gesture with him. Maybe this could become their new thing. Sonic smiled at the thought, but then, it was soon quickly erased as he felt a small bite on the back of his neck.

"Ow!" He yelped, swatting the mosquito that bit him. "Not again!"

"Sonic, what's wrong?" Shadow gasped in surprise at the azure hedgehog's yelp.

"Another damn mosquito just bit me." Sonic growled. "Honestly, they haven't stopped since I ran out of the insect repellent."

"You ran out of the insect repellent?!" Shadow gasped, grabbing Sonic's shoulders as he quickly did a proper look over his body, noticing for the first time the many insect bites that the blue blur had all over his body, some still running with fluid. "Sonic when did this happen? And what happened to the other can?"

"Well, you see Shads." Sonic looked a bit shameful. "On the first night I was alone, a jaguar came into my camp, and I did the only thing I could think of, which was to use the lighter and the one almost empty can of insect repellent to make a flamethrower to scare it away. It worked but the can was empty then because if it, but I knew I still had the other can. But then, in the morning, I had a very rude awakening as a huge swarm of leaf-cutter ants started attacking me. Honestly, Shads, it was like I had woken up in the red sea or something. They were eating me alive, so I panicked and grabbed the other can of repellent and started spraying, but the ants just kept coming. I didn't realize until it was too late that I had just wasted the whole can. Not only that, but the ants also chewed through the food supply, so we have no food either. I'm sorry, Shads."

Shadow was shell shocked. He had no idea Sonic had gone through such horror! He felt incredibly guilty, ashamed that he wasn't there to protect him.

"It's ok, Sonic, it's not your fault. I probably would've done the same thing."

Sonic sighed in relief, glad that Shadow wasn't mad at him. But now that they were both bit with a deadly disease, they needed to get out of the jungle and find help, and fast.

"So… what's the plan, Shads?"


	14. Step By Step

**Chapter 14: Step By Step**

 _Day 15 Part 3_

Later that afternoon, Sonic and Shadow were walking through the jungle. They had come up with a plan together at the river to completely abandon the river and travel straight forward, deeper into the jungle in hopes of finding a way out. They had no idea how far they had to travel to leave the rainforest, but Shadow had estimated that they would have to walk at least a hundred miles, if they kept going straight.

"Shadow," Sonic suddenly spoke. "How are we supposed to know that we're going straight? We don't have a compass to guide us."

"Don't worry, nature will be our compass."

"How?"

"Well, you know how the sun always sets in the west?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, there's a type of moss in the jungle that always grows on the north side of trees and rocks." Shadow explained. "I've seen it before we started walking. That's why I chose this path. As long as we keep following the trail of the moss, we'll be going straight."

"Alright then, that's all I needed to know."

Shadow stopped suddenly and turned to look at his blue companion, an eyeridge raised at him.

"You seem to be putting a lot of trust on me." He frowned. "Why?"

"Because I trust you, Shads. You promised me that you would protect me, and I know that you're not gonna break it."

"But… the rapids… I _lost_ you, Sonic." Shadow sighed in melancholy, hanging his head with his eyes closed. "We were apart for five days. You were attacked by jaguars, ants, and mosquitos. You probably already have Malaria, and not to mention, the food was lost too. I broke my promise, Sonic. I broke it… again."

"Shadow…" Sonic reached to grab the ebony hedgehog's shoulders, turning him to face him. "That was not your fault. You couldn't predict what was gonna happen at the rapids, that was all nature taking its course. You didn't break your promise to me. And this whole 'again' thing. If that's about your promise to Maria, you didn't break that either."

"But…"

"Yes, you tried to destroy the world before, twice, but both times you lost your memories and were manipulated by others who wanted to use you for evil. That's not your fault. If anything, it's _their_ fault for trying to use someone as caring and compassionate as you for their evil deeds."

"Caring and compassionate?" Shadow smirked slyly, making Sonic blush.

"Yes Shadow. Caring and compassionate. That's who you are, deep down inside. It just… takes time for one to get to it. Your promise to Maria was to keep the people happy, and they are happy. Afterall, _I'm_ happy."

"Are you really though?" Shadow raised an eyeridge. "Are you really happy being stuck with me?"

Sonic let go of Shadow's shoulders and smiled bashfully, his hands clasped behind his back, with his head down as he traced the dirt with his foot.

"You'd be surprised, Shads."

To be honest, Sonic _was_ happy to be stuck, alone with Shadow. Before, he had thought it was because it would help them create the bonded friendship Shadow was aiming for. But as they shared those butterfly kisses just hours before, that warm feeling came back, and this time, Sonic knew what it was.

He had a crush on Shadow.

At Sonic's words, it was Shadow's turn to blush, causing Sonic to laugh.

"The Ultimate Lifeform blushing?!" Sonic laughed.

"What do you mean 'You'd be surprised'?" Shadow demanded to know, but the young hedgehog only shook his head.

"It doesn't matter, it's not really important." Sonic sighed before looking back up at him. "Now come on. We got 100 miles of jungle to travel through, and we're burning daylight."

…

As the two hedgehogs continue to walk through the jungle, they noticed something off about their surroundings. The jungle was much more thick than what they remembered, it was very difficult to get through. They also were aware that the Devil Dragon was more than likely still following them, just waiting for one of them to drop, and they had no idea how far they had been traveling.

"Hey Shads?" Sonic questioned.

"What?"

"How are we supposed to keep track of how far we have to go?"

At this, Shadow paused for a moment. That was honestly a very good question, and Shadow had no idea on how to answer. Then suddenly, he had an idea.

"Well, if we follow basic math, we know that 2,000 paces go into a mile. We have to travel 100 miles to get out, so that means 200,000 paces. How about this? After each 100 paces, we make a little notch on the walking stick with the machete. By the time we're out, the stick should have 2,000 notches in it. Each notch is just a quarter of a mile closer to help."

"Sounds good to me, Shads." Sonic smiled, already putting the first notch into his walking stick. "That's one down. We'll be outta here in no time."

Afterwards, the two hedgehogs continued forward, traveling deeper and deeper into the forest, unaware of how far they would really need to go.

As they continue walking, hours pass by and night begins to fall. They can go no further, and must camp for the night. Together, they work to make a small shelter, just big enough for the two of them. As they stand proudly over their creation, they suddenly begin to notice something else.

With the September summer slowly coming to a close, when the sun goes down, the temperature drops too. Sonic shivers, rubbing his hands against his arms.

"Guess summer is finally starting to come to a close." He said to Shadow.

"Seems like it." The ebony nodded in agreement. "You should let me see the lighter. I'll try and find some dry materials to make a small fire with. You go ahead and get in the shelter. Get yourself warmed up as much as you can."

Sonic nodded and handed Shadow the lighter before quickly crawling into the makeshift tent, laying down on the uncomfortable ground with his hands in his armpits in a attempt to keep himself warm. He shivered a bit as the dampness from the ground seeped up through the not so well made floor.

Shadow looked at Sonic's shivering form, feeling a bit bad that the blue was cold and he wasn't. As the Ultimate Lifeform, he was pretty much a walking inferno, so he didn't get cold easily.

"I'll be right back." He promised as he turned to find some dry twigs and leaves for a fire. However, before the ebony hedgehog could even take a single step, lightning flashed across the sky, followed by a fierce boom of thunder that shook the ground. At that moment, it started pouring down on them.

Sonic cried out in surprise and anguish, the cold rain only making him colder. Shadow's eyes widened as Sonic started trembling even more than before, his body slowly rocking back and forth, his teeth chattering as he tried to warm himself. Shadow felt awful! If he didn't do something quick, Sonic would freeze to death.

Throwing the idea of a fire out, for obvious reasons, Shadow did the only thing he could think of. Approaching the blue hedgehog, he knelt down to the makeshift shelter and crawled in.

"Scoot over a bit," He told him. "Let me get in here."

"W-w-what do w-w-we do n-n-now?" Sonic whimpered, scooting over to make room for the ebony.

"Don't worry, I got it under control."

With Shadow in the shelter now, his back turned to the storm, Sonic wasn't getting pelted as much as he was before, but he was still freezing cold. This proved true when he continued to shiver. Frowning in worry, Shadow scooted a little closer to Sonic, wrapping his arms around the blue hedgehog and pulling him close into a nice warm hug.

Almost instantly, Sonic stopped shivering and melted into the hug, feeling much warmer now.

"Wow Shads," He whispered, his eyes half lidded. "You're so warm."

"I don't get cold easily, Sonic." Shadow explained, pulling the hedgehog a little closer to the warmth, unconsciously nuzzling his muzzle into his head. "Try and get some sleep, Sonic. I'll keep you warm throughout the night."

Sonic didn't need to be told twice, as his eyes started to droop before falling into a peaceful sleep, warmly cuddled up against the one he had fallen in love with.


	15. Starvation

**Chapter 15: Starvation**

 _Day 16_

The next morning, the rain had stopped and the sun was slowly peeking through the clouds, shining it's warm rays through the trees of the rainforest, shining directly over the two hedgehogs cuddled in their shelter.

Shadow woke first, the sun's welcoming rays shining over his face. He blinked his eyes open and yawned, allowing the fresh oxygen to rush to his brain to assist in the awakening. The ebony felt a slight shift in his arms and he looked down, smiling warmly at the sight before him.

Sonic still slept, his face pressed against Shadow's dirty white chest fur, his arms brought up against his own chest as he relished in the warmth of the crimson streaked hedgehog's arms, which were still wrapped around him.

He looked so peaceful, as if he wasn't currently suffering being lost in the middle of the Amazon Rainforest. Shadow was almost sorry that he would now have to pull the young hedgehog out of his peaceful dreams, probably filled with adventures of beating Eggman and seeing his friends again. And Tails… oh how much Sonic must miss his little brother.

Maybe just a few more minutes.

Shadow smiled and snuggled his muzzle into Sonic's head, pulling him close. He had realized before that his behavior to the blue hedgehog had been changing drastically, finding himself happy to be around him. He remembered how Maria once told him about these warm fuzzy feelings that would corrupt his body once he met that 'special someone'. He had no idea what she was talking about at the time, but now he knew, and he honestly didn't mind it for some reason.

He had told Sonic before that this mission was completely platonic, but now… he wasn't so sure himself. And he loved it!

Just as Shadow was about to close his eyes again, a loud growl rumbled around them. His eyes snapped open and he shot up to attention, afraid that a jaguar or maybe even the Devil Dragon had found them. He searched around the camp, his eyes and ears scanning around them for any sign of danger. Of course, his rough movements had disturbed the sleeping hedgehog beside him, and Sonic yawned as he slowly woke up.

"Good morning." Sonic yawned sleepily, rubbing his eyes to clear the blurriness. Shadow jumped at the sound of Sonic's voice, and he turned to look back at him with guilt in his eyes.

"I'm sorry, did I disturb you?" He asked.

"A little, but it's ok." Sonic chuckled. "We gotta get up and get moving again anyway. I'm honestly surprised you didn't wake me earlier."

Shadow blushed and looked away, unsure if he should tell him the reason he didn't wake him or not. His ear twitched violently as he heard the same growl again, his head whipping around to track it.

"What's wrong, Shads?" Sonic asked as he warily watched the other hedgehog in front of him.

"... There's something here." Shadow answered quietly. "I keep hearing it growling. I'm not sure if it's a jaguar, or the Devil Dragon, but whatever it is, it's angry."

"Eh, yeah." Sonic blushed, rubbing his hand against the back of his neck. "I think I know what you're talking about."

Shadow looked back at his companion and raised an eyeridge at him. Why was he acting nervous all of a sudden? Suddenly, another growl rumbled and Sonic noticeably cringed. After that, it didn't take long for Shadow to realize what it was.

Of course! How could he be so stupid?!

"Sonic, when was the last time you've eaten?"

"Eh, about 2 days ago." Sonic sighed. "I was able to find a small pool in the river by the bank that had little fish trapped in it. There were only three of them and they were about the size of my hand, so that's all I've eaten."

Shadow nodded with a frown. If he only had a small meal like that only 2 days ago, then it was no wonder that the blue hedgehog was hungry. Shadow sighed and crawled out of the shelter, turning back around to help lift Sonic to his feet once he crawled out too.

"We need to get some food in you." He suggested, looking around.

"How? There's not much here."

Shadow ignored him and continued looking around, searching for fruits in the trees, or tracks on the ground.

At last, Shadow carefully lowered to the ground as he saw a muddy trail of mouse tracks. By the many footprints, he could tell that the mouse used this path often.

"We'll build a trap, like how the guides taught us." He told Sonic, who watched him curiously. "Then when the mouse comes by, we'll drop it on him and that'll be your meal. It's not much but it's at least something to help settle your stomach."

Sonic nodded. "Ok, let's do it then."

For the next few minutes, Sonic and Shadow spent them building the trap. They were hiding in the rain soaked ferns, hoping that it would disguise their scent, while Shadow held onto the string taken from the rope, tied to an overhanging rock that Shadow would drop onto the mouse once it walked by.

As they waited for the mouse, things got really quiet. A little too quiet. It made the hedgehogs feel uneasy, feeling as if the jungle was watching them, judging them. Sounds of animals and insects here and there erupted all around them, seemingly so loud in their ears.

Out in the jungle, the law was survival of the fittest, and it was obvious to the inhabitants that their Mobian visitors didn't belong.

The hissing, the screeching. The croaking, the rustling, and just the straight up judging! It was too much!

"SHUT UP!" Shadow screamed suddenly, ending all noise around them.

Shadow's outburst had startled Sonic, but he couldn't blame him, he was getting tired of the noise too. It was horrible, to think that the jungle knew that they didn't belong here. That they were lost and suffering, and that they were completely unprepared. Hell, they couldn't even build a simple trap.

"I'm sorry." Shadow quietly apologized, realizing that his outburst may have just scared off their prey.

"It's ok Shads, I don't blame you. I was getting tired of it too." Sonic sighed before standing up from their hiding place, reaching his hand out to the ebony. "Come on, let's get going. Karl said that most of the ferns are edible, so I'll just eat that instead."

Shadow sighed and nodded, dropping the trap before taking Sonic's hand and standing up.

"Ok, let's go then."

…

 _Day 19_

For three days more, the hedgehogs continue to travel, stopping every 100 paces to add a new notch to their walking sticks. By this time, they have traveled only 25 miles, a mere quarter of the 100 miles they believe they need to go.

Sonic's mosquito bites had gotten worse and were starting to fester, running with pus and a clear fluid that could obviously cause infection. Shadow's bite on his leg hasn't gotten any better either. It was black and crusty with dry blood. Each step made the hedgehog cringe a little, the sheer signs of an infection. He hasn't started having any of the effects of blood poisoning yet, and neither has Sonic started having the effects of Malaria, but they both knew it wouldn't be long now.

Despite them being in the rainforest, proper drinking water was scarce, most water filled with mud, dirt, and silt, which could not be boiled for safety. In a attempt to stay hydrated, they had taken to trying to drink the water left on the leaves around them, but it's not enough. With the lack of water, they were becoming dehydrated and had also stopped urinating. But in all honesty, this was the least of their problems.

The two hadn't eaten in 5 days and were beginning to feel the effects of starvation. Like Sonic had suggested, they were eating the tips off of the ferns to satisfy their hunger, but it wasn't enough.

"Uuurrrgh!" Sonic couldn't help but groan, doubling over in pain as he clutched at his stomach, which was giving out another loud grumble of hunger.

"Are you ok, Sonic?" Shadow asked in a worried voice.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just really hungry." The blue blur answered, every word seeming to take away his breath. Seriously, at this point, he was starting to feel like the raincoat girl from Little Nightmares.

"Yeah, me too." Shadow nodded. "But don't worry. We'll find food soon."

"I hope you're right, Shads. My stomach literally feels like it's eating itself right now."

"Not uncommon but understandable. Your body is just trying to conserve its energy to keep it going. Once we find some food, you'll feel better."

Sonic said nothing afterwards, he had no energy to do so. Sonic was usually as healthy as a horse, but now, he was as sick as an old dog, barely able to stand on his own two feet. Seeing his blue counterpart struggling, Shadow stopped and went up to him. Without even a warning, he picked Sonic up bridal style and held him close to his chest. Sonic sighed with a content smile on his face, looking right up at Shadow. Shadow stared back, his eyes stinging with unshed tears as he stared at the weak hedgehog.

"Don't worry. I'll find you some food. I promise."

Then, like so many times before, Shadow wrapped his pinky around Sonic's, holding it tight. Sonic only smiled as he closed his eyes, feeling too weak at the moment to keep them open.

…

Hours passed and Shadow had still not found food. The hedgehog in his arms was withering in pain, his stomach growling louder than it had before.

He felt awful. Poor Sonic was suffering, while Shadow didn't really require food, but still got hungry often enough for him to eat normally. He could only imagine how much pain Sonic was going through right now, especially with his high metabolism.

"Come on, there's gotta be _something_ around here." The ebony hedgehog hissed.

Walking a few more paces, Shadow looked over to his right and gasped. In front of him stood a beautiful sight. A miracle.

An aguaje palm tree!

"Sonic! Sonic wake up!" He cried happily, shaking the blue hedgehog awake.

"What is it?" He asked sleepily.

"Look, Sonic, look!"

Sonic frowned and looked over to what Shadow was staring at so excitedly, and he couldn't believe his eyes.

"Oh my gosh, the Miracle Fruit!" He cried out happily.

Unable to contain their excitement much longer, Shadow set Sonic down onto his own feet and they both dashed up to the tree. Laughing with tears of joy running down their faces, Sonic and Shadow began picking the berries from the tree and placing them in the tin cup they still had. Shadow took the butt of the machete and starting mashing the berries like they had done on that first day. Not long after, they had a wonderful purple mush in the cup, which Shadow helped Sonic devour in just a few gulps.

Oh it felt so good to Sonic to have his stomach full! Shadow was just as happy, proud to have been able to keep his promise.

They were laughing and crying, filled with joy with the berry pulp inside them. At some point, Sonic had actually started coughing, but neither one thought anything of it, both feeling too joyous with a full stomach.

That is, until Sonic's coughing got worse.

"Sonic, are you alright?" Shadow asked in a worried tone.

"No! *cough cough* Something's wrong! *cough cough hack*" Sonic coughed.

Suddenly, Sonic's coughing got even worse and he doubled over onto the ground, hacking his lungs dry.

"No! *cough cough* Oh please no! *cough hack cough* Dear sweet Chaos no!"

"Sonic, what's wrong?!"

But instead of an answer, a wretched sputtering sound came from the blue's lips, the sound of liquid hitting the grass. Shadow could only watch in horror as Sonic retched in front of him, the purple berry pulp he had just consumed spilling from behind his lips.

"Sonic!" He cried out once the blue hedgehog was done vomiting, slumping over himself on the ground. Shadow rushed across the grass to his companion, kneeling before him has he lifted Sonic's upper body, supporting his head with his hand. "What happened?!"

"... I'm sorry, Shadow." Sonic coughed. "I couldn't keep it down. My body is too weak. My stomach can't digest it. I'm just too weak."

"No." Shadow gasped, violently shaking his head. "No no, this can't be! You HAVE to keep it down! Maybe you just ate too fast. Let's just try again, but slower this time."

"Shadow…" Sonic whimpered, but the ebony hedgehog didn't hear him. Shadow stood up from the ground and went to the berries, making a new batch in the tin cup. He took the new berry mash and walked up to Sonic, placing the cup to his lips.

"Ok, go slow this time or you'll make yourself sick again. That's it, Sonic. Nice and slow."

Wanting to make Shadow happy, Sonic slowly drank the berry pulp once more. It took a few minutes for him to finish, but by the time he was done, night was starting to fall, and his stomach was full once again.

"How do you feel?" Shadow asked.

Sonic said nothing, his mouth and eyes squeezed shut, waiting for the inevitability that he knew was coming. Suddenly, he started coughing again. He wanted to keep it down this time, so he put his hands against his mouth, forcing his mouth to stay closed. However, it did little as spurts of purple came out from behind his hands, getting it all over his face and gloves.

Once again, Shadow felt awful. Sonic was getting vomit all over himself just to try to keep the mush down to make Shadow happy. He couldn't let this continue.

"Don't force yourself to hold it, Sonic." He whispered gently, carefully moving Sonic's hands away from his face. "You'll just make yourself more sick."

At that moment, Sonic gave up the fight and doubled over again, spewing the purple vomit across the ground again. By the time he was finished, he had tears in his eyes. He looked up at Shadow, letting those tears run freely.

"I'm sorry."

Shadow couldn't stand to see Sonic so upset. He cupped Sonic's cheeks and placed a kiss on his forehead like Sonic had done just 4 days ago, using his thumbs to wipe his tears away.

"Don't worry, we'll figure something out." He promised. "For now, let's just sleep."

And in the shadow of the aguaje tree, that's just what they did.


	16. Last Words

**Chapter 16: Last Words**

 _Day 20_

There was no relief the next day.

When the sun rose, Shadow had to struggle to awaken the blue hedgehog with him, who was still very weak with hunger and hurting from the insect bites.

Before they had left, Shadow had tried to make Sonic eat once more, but just the same as the last two attempts yesterday, Sonic had thrown up the rich berry pulp once more, unable to stomach it.

Now, as they walked along the path, Sonic was moving slower and slower, barely able to stand upright with how weak he has become. Shadow had offered to carry him like how he had done yesterday, but Sonic refused, saying that he needed to try and toughen this out, but it wasn't going so well.

"How you doing back there, Faker?" Shadow asked as he stopped to look back at his companion once more.

"Not… so well…" Sonic admitted as he slapped another notch into his stick with the machete. He seemed to be stumbling all over the place. "I feel… dizzy."

"Here, why don't you sit down for a moment?" Shadow suggested as he grabbed Sonic's shoulders and made him sit down against a tree.

"But, we have to get outta here." Sonic slurred.

"It won't do us any good if your stumbling all around." Shadow frowned.

He studied the young hedgehog in front of him, taking note on his condition. His once cobalt blue fur was now more of a sky blue and drenched in sweat. His face was red and he was panting heavily, and his hands… they were shaking. Shadow frowned and felt the hedgehog's forehead, pulling back quickly. He had a fever.

"... It's starting." Shadow whispered grimly.

"What's starting?" Sonic asked.

"You've been attacked relentlessly for too long." The ebony continued, tears starting to brim at the corners of his eyes. "We've been stuck in here for days without proper treatment."

"What are you talking about?"

"Sonic…" Shadow whispered as he looked into the emerald green eyes, his tears slowly falling down his face. "You've got Malaria… and the effects are taking their hold."

The words felt like a punch to the face. Sonic couldn't believe it. He knew he was gonna get Malaria eventually, but he had hoped the effects wouldn't react so quickly.

Tears started to fall from Sonic's own eyes as he began to think about the situation he was in. The Malaria was destroying his red blood cells, starving his body and brain of the oxygen it needed to survive. As these thoughts went through his head, his mind turned to his friends, who were over 5,000 miles away.

It wasn't fair!

He was gonna die out here, he was sure of it, and his friends would never know what happened to him. Unless…

"Shadow," He spoke weakly to the ebony hedgehog. "Do we still have the map, and that pen that Karl gave us?"

"Uh, yeah I'm pretty sure it's still in the backpack. Why?"

"Can I see them… please?"

Confused, Shadow took off the backpack from his back and opened it, digging through it to grab the map and the pen, handing them to the sick hedgehog.

"What are you planning to do?"

"I'm going to write a message to my friends back home." Sonic answered. "And you are going to deliver them."

"What?" Shadow gasped, wide-eyed.

"You're the Ultimate Lifeform and immortal. You'll survive and get out of here no problem. But me… I'm dying Shadow… I know I am. It's not fair to my friends back home to not here my final words to them. They need to know what happened."

"Sonic, you're not gonna die out here." Shadow frowned as he reached for the material in Sonic's hands, but said hedgehog moved them away.

"Please… Shadow… let me do this… it'll at least make me feel better."

Shadow stopped and stared at the azure hedgehog. Sonic stared back, his emerald eyes streaming with tears, but left unbroken, his choice final. Shadow sighed and nodded.

"Thank you." Sonic nodded before he started writing on the back of the map.

 _Dear Tails, Amy, Knuckles, Silver, Blaze, Rouge, Cream and Cheese, and all other friends,_

 _It is with a heavy heart that I have decided to write this, but I felt that you deserved to hear my last words. It may be hard to believe, but it is true. If you are reading this, then I am sadly dead._

 _I honestly don't know what to say, but I don't want to leave this off by just saying that I love you guys, which I really do. I'm so lucky to have friends like you._

 _I know what you're all probably more than likely thinking. "This is all Shadow's fault." You all knew I was going on a mission with him, but I need to let you guys know, that it is not his fault. Without him, I probably wouldn't have last as long as I did._

 _No, Shadow did everything he could to protect me. To feed me and keep me well. It was either the Malaria or the hunger that got me, but Shadow had no partake in it. The jungle of the Amazon Rainforest is an unforgiving place, I didn't stand a chance._

 _Shadow kept saying over and over again that I wasn't gonna die in here, that he wouldn't let me, but even he can't promise that, no matter how many times he pinky swears. Yeah, that's become our new thing since we came to the jungle._

 _Honestly, I'm glad that I came with Shadow. I've seen a new side to him that I never thought that I would ever see and I can honestly say, I fell in love with it. It takes a lot of work to get through his tough exterior to see the real hedgehog underneath, but I tell you, it is worth it._

 _Please do not be too sad with my departure. I will always be with you in memory. As for who will take over the team now that I am gone? Well, I would say Tails, but that's too much responsibility for a child._

 _No, in honesty, I want Shadow to take over. Team Sonic will now be Team Shadow._

 _I hope you all approve of my decision, and I'm sorry I couldn't come home this time._

 _I love you all. Please, never give up._

 _Always with love, Sonic_

As Sonic wrote his message to his friends, Shadow couldn't help but read along. The words that the blue blur wrote pulled roughly at his heartstrings, making him want to sob uncontrollably. Sonic however, didn't hold back. He openly sobbed as he wrote, tears falling onto the message, creating ink smudges and blurring some of the words.

When he was finally done, Sonic dropped the map and pen and sobbed, flinging himself into Shadow's arms as he wailed into his chest fur. Shadow wrapped his arms tightly around him as he held him close, tears falling from his own eyes.

"You're not gonna die. I won't let you." He whispered into his ear, gently rocking them back and forth.

"Shadow…"

"You're friends are never gonna see that message, because you're gonna get out of here."

"Shadow…"

"I promise Sonic, I promise."

"Shadow!"

Shadow stopped and looked down at his companion. Sonic looked back up and sniffed, his eyes red and puffy from crying. He gave a gentle smile as he looked into the beautiful ruby eyes of the darker hedgehog.

"Now that I have your attention, there's something I wanna do, before it's too late."

"Sonic, for the last time, you're not gonna…"

Shadow didn't have a chance to finish his sentence however. Because at that moment, Sonic thrusted himself up to Shadow's face and planted his lips right onto his, kissing him passionately as he wrapped his arms around his neck.

Shadow was frozen stiff as Sonic kissed him. He couldn't believe this was happening. Sonic was kissing him! A little voice in the back of his head was telling him that this was wrong. That he should push him off and snap at him. But in the front of his mind, a much bigger voice told him that this was so right. That this is where he needed to be.

Taking the bigger voice's advice, Shadow closed his eyes and kissed back, pulling Sonic closer to him. It felt so wrong, but at the same time, it felt so right.

Sonic was mentally squealing with delight as Shadow kissed back. He had a feeling that he would be angry with him and push him away, but boy was he wrong. As they kissed, Sonic's love for Shadow burned brighter, and with Shadow, love for Sonic burned too.

At last, the two parted their lips, both gasping for air, their faces glowing with blush.

They stared into each other's eyes, foreheads pressed against each other, just marveling in the moment, savoring it to memory.

Soon enough though, Shadow frowned. Sonic's expression fell along with his ears.

Was Shadow actually mad?

However, his mood brightened up some with the next words the crimson streaked hedgehog said to him.

"Sonic… I swear to Lord Chaos on Mobius, and God and the Lord Jesus on Earth. We will make it out of here. Together. That is a solid promise. We will get out of here. Alive. And together."


	17. Devil Trap

**A/N: Hey everybody, sorry this chapter took so long, I felt like I kinda needed a break since my writer's block kept coming back, but not only that, I was also spending some time with my family before I had to go back to college. Family is important you know. Anyway, I'm back and I think I might have an easier time writing this story. So, without any further waiting, let's see what's gonna happen to our two lovehogs now.**

 **Chapter 17: Devil Trap**

 _Day 21_

The next day wasn't any better. Sonic's fever began to spike. He was sweating all over, and the ibuprofen in the first aid kit did little to help. Because of his shaking, Shadow had to help him walk, but the ebony hedgehog was having a little trouble too.

The effects of the blood poisoning was starting, though not as quick as Sonic's Malaria. He was beginning to feel feverish, and he was sweating too.

"Are you ok, Shads?" Sonic asked weakly.

"Yes, I'm fine, Sonic."

"Are you sure? You feel really warm."

"I assure you, Sonic, I'm fine."

"...Ok."

Of course, Sonic knew that Shadow was lying. He could see the glaze over the ruby eyes he loved so much, and he knew by the sight of the red muzzle that Shadow had a fever too. He knew the blood poisoning was taking hold, but he also knew that it wouldn't kill his ebony boyfriend… well… if he was his boyfriend now.

"Hey… Shads?"

"Yes Sonic?"

"A-About that kiss… umm…"

Shadow stopped and looked down at the azure hedgehog, who was blushing madly, looking at the ground instead of at his companion.

"What about it?" Shadow gently pressed.

"U-Umm… well… I wasn't sure if… if you were like… mad at me or anything."

"Why would I be mad?" Shadow frowned. "I kissed back, didn't I?"

"Y-Yes, I know. It's just… I don't know if you did it on instinct… or if you meant it."

"Did you mean it when you kissed me?"

"... Yes."

"Then…"

Suddenly, Sonic felt his chin being lifted up. Nervous emeralds met soft rubies and Shadow smiled. He closed his eyes and placed his lips onto Sonic's, engaging in a gentle kiss. Sonic smiled into the kiss and closed his eyes, wrapping his arms around Shadow's neck as he kissed back.

After a few seconds, they stopped and pulled back, gazing into each other's eyes.

"I mean it when I kiss you." Shadow finished his last sentence.

Sonic giggled like a little schoolgirl and blushed, looking at Shadow.

"So… does this make us…"

"Boyfriends?" Shadow tilted his head, his gentle smile never leaving his features. "I would think so, but only if you want to."

"Yes… I would like that." Sonic smiled.

Suddenly, Shadow felt that something wasn't right. His ears twitched around, listening for the slightest sound. He could feel the eyes burning into his back, hostile and impatient. Shadow growled and maneuvered quickly, shooting a Chaos Spear in the direction of the enemy. A sound like a mixture of a roar and a scream behind the rustling ferns let Shadow know that he had hit his target, making him smile victoriously.

"What was that?!" Sonic gasped.

"The goddamn Devil Dragon!" Shadow hissed. "He's been following us since day 1, I can't stand it! He's just in there, watching, waiting! Looking for the right moment to strike either me again or Chaos forbid you! He's hungry, I know he is, and he's just waiting for one of us to drop and never get up again!"

"We would make a pretty big meal for him." Sonic said fearfully under his breath, then looked up at Shadow. "What should we do? I can't handle knowing there's a giant hostile lizard on our tail 24/7 anymore."

"I can't handle it either." Shadow shook his head. "Enough is enough. We need to do something about this creature, and preferably now."

"But what?"

Shadow frowned in thought. What could they do about the Devil Dragon to have it stop following them? Their whole mission in this jungle in the first place was to find the creature and study it, writing down observations and the whatnot. They had no orders to kill it and even if they planned on doing so, it would be very difficult if it was as big as Officer Charles had once said, so that was out of the question. What could they do?

Suddenly, Shadow had an idea. An idea that could get them the information they needed, and get the Devil Dragon to stop following them once and for all.

"Sonic, I have a plan."

"What is it?"

"We're gonna need the machete, the rope, a lot of wood and leaves… and some bait."

"Bait?" Sonic gulped.

"Don't worry, this is guaranteed to work."

…

About three hours later, everything was all set up. Sonic was extremely nervous about this plan, but he trusted Shadow, and even _he_ knew this was going to work.

"Shadow, are you sure you wanna do this?" He called to the ebony, who was lying right by the trap.

"It's the only way, Sonic." Shadow called back. "We can't continue on like this. Plus, if we do it this way, we'll kill two birds with one stone."

"But does it _have_ to be you?" Sonic whimpered, unhappy with the idea of Shadow being the bait.

"I'd rather it be me than you. You're already suffering enough with the Malaria, I don't even want to _think_ about what may happen if you're accidently bit."

"But what if _you're_ bit? You've already been bit once."

"I'll be fine Sonic. Besides, I'm his target. I have been since the beginning. I'll be fine. Pinky Swear."

Sonic blushed with a smile as Shadow held up his pinky high enough for him to see. Sonic nodded and held up his own pinky, both smiling as they mentally sweared. Sonic took a deep breath and held onto the rope, waiting for his cue.

"Alright devil, you win." Shadow fake panted, laying by the trap as he pretended to be exhausted. "I can't fight your poison anymore. I'm dying, Sonic's dying, there's nothing left for me. You win. Come and take me."

Silence. Silence for the first 5 seconds, and then suddenly, the ferns began to rustle loudly as the creature approached. Sonic and Shadow watched in horror as out of hiding came a giant 23rd foot long monitor lizard.

It had the body built of a Komodo Dragon, four large heavy feet sprouting with four extremely sharp claws. It's long tail swung from side to side as its amber eyes stayed trained on the dark hedgehog laying just a few feet in front of it. It hissed with a vengeance, turning its head to the side to reveal it's left eye to be a bloody mess, most likely from Shadow's Chaos Spear. It darted it's forked bacteria covered tongue from between the thousands a sharp needlelike teeth in its snout, tasting the hedgehog's fear.

Shadow was actually kinda glad that he and Sonic hadn't been drinking a lot, otherwise he'd more than likely be laying in a wet mess right now, especially once the lizard started stomping towards him.

"S-Sonic…" He whispered fearfully. "Get ready."

Sonic nodded and held onto the rope tightly, waiting for the right moment to pull on it.

The Devil Dragon continued stomping up to Shadow, hissing and snarling the whole way there. It stepped onto the trap, disturbing some of the leaves to reveal the branches underneath, but it took no notice, it's focus only on the hedgehog who had hurt it.

Body halfway on the trap, it stopped. Shadow tensed up, fearing that the Devil Dragon may be sensing that something is wrong.

The lizard lifted its large snout and sniffed. After a few seconds of sniffing the air it growled. It turned its attention to the trap below it and snuffed around the leaves, smelling the freshly dug earth.

"Fucker is smart!" Shadow hissed, scrambling to his feet.

At the movement, the lizard looked up and screamed at him, running as fast as it could up to him off the trap. Seeing his boyfriend in danger, Sonic cried out and pulled on the rope as hard as he could, releasing the branches underneath the Devil Dragon.

The lizard screeched as it felt it's lower half fall into the hole beneath it. It clawed at the top with its upper half, trying to climb out of the trap. Shadow growled and spindashed at the creature, trying to make it drop, hitting it dead on, but it wasn't enough. The creature roared at the ebony hedgie, opening its mouth wide to show off it's deadly sharp teeth. Shadow growled right back and spindashed at it again, however, the creature was ready this time. It opened its mouth and roared, biting down just as Shadow hit it, scraping a large gash into his arm.

"AH!" Shadow cried out as he stumbled back, gripping his injured arm, which was dripping profusely with blood.

"Shadow!" Sonic cried out.

The Devil Dragon heard Sonic's cry and turned his direction, hissing loudly. However, it was a mistake. With its attention directed to something else, Shadow summoned up all the speed and strength he had and spindashed at the lizard one last time. The attack smacked the lizard right into the side of its face, causing the creature to lose its grip on the side of the trap. It hissed as it fell into the hole, trapped in the soil without a way to get out.


	18. Mission Accomplished?

**Chapter 18: Mission Accomplished?**

 _Day 21 Part 2_

"Shadow! Are you alright?" Sonic whimpered as he ran up to the crimson streaked hedgehog, ignoring the roaring beast trapped in the hole.

"Uuurgh!" Shadow hissed, squeezing his eyes tight and gritting his teeth as he gripped at his bleeding arm.

"I'll take that as a no." Sonic whined, his ears dropping against his head as he witnessed the hedgehog in severe pain. "I'll get the first aid kit."

"H-hurry." Shadow whimpered, unable to comprehend this kind of pain.

Sonic nodded and quickly went back to his backpack, digging around for the first aid kit. While the blue was gone, Shadow removed his blood soaked glove away from the wound and gasped, suddenly understanding why it hurt so much.

The gash the Devil Dragon's teeth had left behind was long and deep, starting from his elbow and going down to his wrist, the gash wide enough to see the white bone underneath the skin, blackened in parts where the teeth had scraped against it. It was obvious that he needed some serious stitches, needle and thread, but their kit didn't have that, just butterfly stitches, which would not be enough.

One other thing… there was no way he could let Sonic see this.

"Uh, just give me the kit and I'll take care of the wound myself." Shadow suggested.

"Are you sure?" Sonic asked unsurely, now holding the kit in his hands.

"Yes, I'm sure Sonic. Just give me the kit. I can take care of this myself. I want you to go ahead and start studying as much as you can about the Devil Dragon while I take care of this. Write down as much information as you can."

"Well, alright then." Sonic nodded as he handed the ebony hedgehog the first aid kit, going back to his backpack to grab out the pen and map, having to improvise the map for paper.

While Shadow tended to his wound, Sonic cautiously went up to the hole, peering over the ledge to stare down at the giant creature. The Devil Dragon looked up and hissed at him, saliva filled with blood poisoning bacteria dripping from its needle sharp fangs. Sonic shivered at the sight but refused to look away. This is what they were sent to do.

Now that the lizard was trapped Sonic could take a real good look at it without having to worry about it attacking him. As he stared at the creature, he admitted that Officer Charles' math was more than likely correct.

It was like looking at a living breathing dinosaur. The Devil Dragon had the perfect body built of the Komodo Dragon with poisonous saliva to match it. It was 23 feet long from snout to tail tip, and easily weighed a little over 1300 pounds, he was surprised that the creature was able to hide so well.

"How in the world did we not see you?" Sonic whispered.

"What was that?" Shadow asked, coming up beside the blue hedgehog to study the creature as well. His whole arm was covered by a white bandage, his fingers the only things free to move. Some blood could be seen seeping through, but not as much as before since Shadow had used some of the butterfly stitches to close the wound as much as he could, and had wrapped the bandage around tightly to put the pressure over the wound to stop the bleeding.

"Oh, I'm just trying to figure out how we didn't see him earlier." Sonic answered. "This thing is huge, Shads. It's like looking at a dinosaur."

"Master of hide and seek, I guess." Shadow frowned. "What have you gathered so far?"

"Well, it would appear that Officer Charles' math was correct. From snout to tail tip, this Devil Dragon is definitely close to 23 feet. By his size he's definitely a little over 1300 pounds. His body has the perfect built of a Komodo Dragon with the teeth and bacteria filled saliva to match. Other than that, I didn't get anything else."

"By looking at his eye I'd have to say that his vision is perfect… well, it would've been if I hadn't shot his eye. I'd have to say he has the sight distance of at least 13 feet, most likely halved due to the missing eye."

"I noticed that when he attacked you he was surprisingly fast. His sprint speed I'd have to say must be at least 2.6 to 3 meters per second, that's 9.4 to 10.8 kilometers per hour. Also, with the damage he's done to your leg and arm, I can come to a conclusion that his teeth are not needle like, but rather like serrated blades. And look between his eyes, he has a small crest, no doubt it's used to communicate with other Devil Dragons, not that there are any others anyway."

"Hopefully." Shadow nodded, staring in disbelief at the azure hero. "You seem to really know a lot about this stuff."

"... It pays to have a genius for a brother." Sonic giggled.

Shadow could only chuckle at his boyfriend's answer before they both went back to studying the angry creature. After about another hour of observing the animal and writing down their findings, they had everything they possibly could've needed about the creature, enough to satisfy the Commander at G.U.N at least.

"I think we have just about everything." Sonic voiced.

"I agree," Shadow nodded, putting the first aid kit, the pen, and the map full of findings back into the bag. "Let's get out of here and continue forth, we can still get about a quarter mile done before nightfall."

"Wait, what about the Devil Dragon?" Sonic asked as he stood up with him. "What if he gets out?"

"He's not gonna get out, Sonic." Shadow shook his head. "His claws don't have the right grip to them to climb out. He'll be stuck down there until we're long gone."

"Well…" Sonic frowned, looking down at the struggling creature. "I guess you're right. Alright then, let's go."

"That's my hedgehog." Shadow smiled sweetly, picking up the their materials and handing Sonic his walking stick. "Onward then."

"Onward." Sonic giggled as they both began walking away, the Devil Dragon screeching behind them. "Mission accomplished?"

Shadow chuckled and looked back at him.

"Yeah… mission accomplished, once we get home."

"And we will get home." Sonic beamed. "Nothing can stop us now."


	19. Hope

**Chapter 19: Hope**

 _Day 22_

Unfortunately, Sonic's enthusiasm could not carry over.

The next morning, Sonic felt worse than before, his fever skyrocketing and his peach skin beginning to have a yellowish tint to it. He woke up coughing into his gloves, splattering blood over his face and hands. The Malaria was getting worse. Sonic was living desperately on borrowed time, and they both knew it.

Shadow wasn't doing much better either, having a double dosage of blood poisoning. His fever was getting worse, and he began to have trouble breathing. His feet were also killing him due to the trench foot he had forgotten about.

Though as bad as they were feeling, they both knew they had to continue on if they were to make it out alive.

"Just keep pushing forward Sonic." Shadow encouraged the struggling blue hedgehog. "Just keep walking."

"I… I… I can't." Sonic exhaled, his shaking legs making him collapse to the ground. "I'm dying Shadow. I can't go on."

"Don't you dare say that!" Shadow hissed, crouching down beside him. "You are _not_ going to die out here! I'm not gonna let you! Sonic I swore to every god known to man that I was gonna get you out of here, and that's what I intend to do, even if I have to carry you out of here myself! Now, relax your body."

"... That sounded so wrong." Sonic chuckled weakly.

Shadow rolled his eyes but had a smile on his face nonetheless. This was one of the reasons he loved Sonic. The hedgehog was always so cheerful, even in the face of death, able to bring a smile to anyone when he really wasn't trying to.

Shadow shook his head and snuggled his arms underneath Sonic's body before picking him up bridal style. Sonic sighed comfortably as he snuggled his head onto Shadow's shoulder. Shadow smiled and nuzzled the top of Sonic's head.

"I'll get you out of here." He whispered. "Just hang on. We're close… I can feel it."

When Sonic said nothing, Shadow looked down at him and huffed a small laugh, witnessing the blue hero to be soundly asleep. He placed a gentle kiss atop his head before he looked back up and continued walking, ignoring his own pain and fever.

…

Time was of the essence, and both hedgehogs were running dangerously low.

Since Sonic had fallen asleep, he has not woken up, not even when Shadow shook, screamed, and threatened him to waken him. Nothing worked. The sick blue hedgehog was in a coma, dead to the world.

This frightened Shadow. If Sonic did not wake up soon, he would never wake up again, and Shadow will never be able to gaze into those beautiful emerald eyes of his love ever again.

At this newfound life or death realization, Shadow had to make a choice.

Dense forest or not, Shadow began to run. He ran as fast as his weak legs could carry him, not exactly going at his full speed, but close enough. The wind whipped through his quills and the humidity stung his eyes, but he kept running, doing his best to dodge the obstacles in his way, determined to get Sonic to a doctor before he died in his sleep.

Suddenly, a root sticking up from the ground caught the hedgehog's foot, tripping him forward. He made a loud squeak as he fell forward, Sonic flying from his arms to land harshly on the ground. Shadow cringed when he heard a sharp SNAP and noticed the blue hedgehog's ankle laying in a odd position. Great.

"I'm so sorry." Shadow whimpered, tears falling down his face as he crawled over to the unconscious hero and dug around his bag for the first aid kit. Once he had the kit he brought out the gauze and made a splint using two sticks found nearby to place his ankle straight.

Once Sonic's broken ankle was situated, Shadow put the kit away and just sat there, crying his eyes out. It was no use. There was no way they were getting out of this jungle. They have been traveling for _weeks_ and they didn't even know how much further they needed to go, or if they were even going in the right direction. They were gonna die out here. Both of them.

It was hopeless.

Suddenly, a rustling in the ferns disturbed Shadow's thoughts. The ebony hedgehog whipped his head up and looked towards the direction of the noise, trying to decipher on what it was. It frightened him when he realized that whatever it was was big and it was headed right for them. At this, his thoughts immediately went to thinking that it was a jaguar, but then… his mind went to the impossible.

What if it was the Devil Dragon?

"GET OUT OF HERE!" Shadow screamed threateningly, standing up to his full height. "GET OUT OF HERE AND LEAVE US ALONE! LEAVE US ALONE!"

Shadow screamed and cried, throwing Chaos Spears out in anger and fear. He kept throwing them and screaming, all up until the sounds stopped.

And then suddenly, as if out of the blue, he heard a small whimpering sound, and what followed it afterwards out of the ferns, was a dirty white dog.

"Well my word!" Shadow gasped as he gently knelt down to the dog, allowing it to sniff his hand and petting it's head. "Where in the world did you come from, little Casew?" ( **Dog** )

The dog didn't seem to be that filthy, as if she had only been in the jungle for a few days. She looked to be well fed for a stray, and her tail was wagging happily as she stared up at the ebony hedgehog, her tongue hanging to the side as she panted excitedly.

Then, Shadow had an epiphany. If this dog had found them looking like this, then maybe…

"We're close, aren't we girl?" Shadow spoke to the dog, earning a happy yip in return. "You've come to rescue us, haven't you little Casew?"

The dog barked and spun around, yipping happily at the hedgehog. She didn't understand what he was saying, but she could sense the excitement off of him.

"You're just a little sign of hope, aren't you?" Shadow smiled, rubbing the dog's face, flopping her ears all over the place. "You're a sign, little Casew. A sign! A sign saying that we're not that far from help, from hope, from life! You've come to save us! Chaos himself must've sent you!"

The dog yelped and jumped onto her hind legs, pinning her front paws against Shadow's shoulders, lapping his face excitedly with her slobbery tongue. Shadow laughed and gently pushed her off before going over to Sonic and picking him back up. Once he had the azure hedgie in his arms, he turned back to the dog, who was standing attentively, staring happily at her new master.

"Lead the way, little Casew." He nodded to her. "Take us home."

The dog yipped one last time before she turned the direction she came, heading out of the forest, with a certainly hallucinating poisoned hedgehog, carrying another dying diseased hedgehog, right on her tail.


	20. I'm Alive

**Chapter 20: I'm Alive**

 _Day 23_

The night before, Shadow didn't sleep at all, too focused on following Casew out of the jungle to get him and Sonic safely out. He was drastically running out of time, feeling the azure hero in his arms shake in his restless coma, as he continued to painfully limp after the dog. He knew that the Malaria by now was utterly _destroying_ Sonic's kidneys and liver, and by his estimate, Shadow concluded that they still had about 20 miles left to travel.

"No need to die. No need to die. No need to die." The ebony hedgehog quietly repeated to himself over and over again with each step he took.

Suddenly, Sonic started shaking violently in his arms, spazzing all over the place. A gurgling noise came from his throat and he stopped breathing as he shook.

Terrified, Shadow sat down on the ground and laid Sonic's head onto his lap, sticking his finger into Sonic's mouth to move his tongue to the side so that he could breathe. He knew exactly what this was. Sonic was having a seizure.

"Come on Sonic, fight it." Shadow hissed quietly, urging his love to pull through. "Don't let the darkness take you. Fight the death. Don't let it take you."

As quickly as it started it suddenly stopped. Sonic peacefully laid on Shadow's lap, breathing with ragged breaths in his deathlike coma, but he was alive, and that's what mattered.

"That's my hedgehog." Shadow smiled, leaning over to gently place a kiss upon the blue's lips.

Shadow once again took Sonic into his arms bridal style and stood up, ready to continue walking. He looked around for his canine friend, but couldn't find her anywhere.

"Casew?" He called in confusion. "Casew?! … CASEW!"

When he heard no sounds made by a dog, Shadow dropped back down to his knees, depression taking hold of him as he came to a realization.

Casew was never there. She was a mere hallucination made by the blood poisoning to send false hope into his mind.

The realization made Shadow begin to cry as he laid down onto the ground, cuddling with an unconscious blue hedgehog beside him.

If Casew was an illusion, then what else was? Were they actually closer to help than they had been a few weeks ago? Was Sonic actually even alive right now? Was _he_ even alive right now? He couldn't tell real from fake anymore, and quite frankly… he didn't want to.

"I'm sorry, Sonic." Shadow whimpered, gently stroking Sonic's quills. "I've failed you. I promised you that I'd get you out… but now I don't think I can anymore. I'm so sorry… I love you."

And with that, Shadow shut his eyes and slept, unsure if he would ever open them again.

…

A voice.

A voice loud in the jungle made Shadow snap his eyes open. He was certain he heard a voice. Was it Sonic's?

The ebony hedgehog looked down at the blue. He was still comatose, he couldn't have been the voice. But if it wasn't him who was it?

Was it another illusion?

"SHADOW!"

There is was again, clearer this time! It was calling out his name. It was looking for him. It sounded familiar and… robotic?

"Omega?!" He called out, his voice barely above a whisper.

"SONIC! SHADOW, WHERE ARE YOU, HUN?!"

Now Shadow knew _that_ voice.

"Rouge!" He called. "Rouge! Omega! Over here!"

Suddenly, another voice cried out through the jungle mixed in with the voices of his friends, but it was human. Instead, they were quick, excited barks.

"Casew!" Shadow gasped happily, relieved that she wasn't an illusion after all. She must've just ventured forward to find Omega and Rouge while he stayed behind to take care of Sonic! "Omega! Rouge! Casew!"

Suddenly, out of the ferns, a miracle came for them. Casew bounded out of the ferns up to them, happily licking Shadow's face as she was followed behind by a red robot and an ivory bat. What surprised Shadow most, was that with his friends, were also Karl and Officer Charles!

"Oh my gosh, Shadow!" Rouge gasped upon the sight of her friends. "What happened to you hun?"

Shadow could only laugh, relieved that help had come for them at last. His laughing turned into violent coughing as dehydration caught up to him once more.

"W-water." He coughed.

Rouge nodded and walked up to him, gently nudging the dog aside as she knelt down to her friend, holding the canteen full of water up to his lips.

Shadow took a hold of the canteen and eagerly drank the precious cool liquid it held, barely gulping what was already in his mouth before taking another mouthful.

"Easy hun, easy!" Rouge gasped, gently pulling the canteen away. "Take it slow hun, or you'll choke."

"What happened?" Karl asked, coming up to them as he watched the ebony hedgehog drink.

Shadow pulled the canteen away from his lips, having had drank his fill. He slowly sat up and laid Sonic's head across his lap, slowly trickling water into his mouth. The unconscious hedgie coughed and sputtered, but more or less swallowed most of the water. He wasn't totally out of it.

"Rapids…" Shadow began. "Destroyed our boat. We got lost. Lost everything. Sonic has Malaria and a broken ankle. I have blood poisoning. Trench foot too. Devil Dragon got me. He's trapped now. He won't hurt anyone again."

"We better get you two out of here and to the hospital." Officer Charles frowned, stepping forward. "You two have suffered long enough."

"I agree, let's go." Shadow nodded, slowly standing up with Sonic in his arms, but the moment he took the first step, he stumbled forward, quickly being caught by Omega.

"Shadow you are not well." The robot announced as he held onto his friend. "You can barely walk and Sonic is unconscious. Let me carry you. You know I can."

Instead of arguing, Shadow merely just nodded, allowing his robotic friend to lift him and Sonic up to carry them both out of the jungle. As they started to leave, Shadow heard a small whimpering sound. He looked towards the source and gently smiled when he saw the dog sitting put, unsure if she should follow or not.

"Casew…" He gently called to her. "Casew, come girl."

With a happy yip, Casew stood up and began following the group, sticking close to the big red robot who held her master.

Chuckling quietly, Shadow looked over to the comatose hedgehog laying across from him, smiling gently at his peaceful face, as if he knew that they were safe. Shadow slowly reached over and gently took Sonic's hand into his own, squeezing it reassuringly.

"We did it, my love." He whispered, uncaring if the others heard him or not. "We made it out. We survived. … We're Alive."

And with those final words, Shadow allowed his eyes to close once more.

 **A/N: Don't worry. The story's not over yet. More is still yet to come.**


	21. What Have I Done?

**Chapter 21: What Have I Done?**

Shadow opened his eyes once more to a bright white light shining down on him. He shielded his eyes until they adjusted to the world of the living, only then realizing it wasn't a white light, but rather light reflecting off of white walls that surrounded him.

The sound of heart rate monitors and bustling people outside, and the fact that he was hooked up to said heart rate monitor, with an IV drip and a breathing mask on him as well, let Shadow know that he was in a hospital.

"Good morning, sleeping beauty."

Recognizing the voice, Shadow looked over to his right and smiled when he saw Rouge sitting beside him.

"Hey," He croaked out from behind the mask. "How long have I been out?"

"Since yesterday," Rouge answered. "You passed out as soon as we started walking. We got to the hospital sometime around noon yesterday."

Shadow slowly nodded, understanding his tiredness. Hell, he and Sonic had been walking through the rainforest for over _3 weeks_.

At the thought of Sonic, Shadow suddenly sat up, startled with panic in his eyes.

"Wait, where's Sonic?!" He gasped, searching around frantically for his blue love, but all he saw was Rouge, white walls, and a peculiar curtain to his left.

"Lie down and relax, Shadow." Rouge smiled warmly, gently pushing her friend back onto the mattress. "He's fine. He's right beside you, behind the curtain. Can't you hear him?"

At Rouge's words, Shadow strained his ears to listen, only now noticing a second set of heartbeats and the sound of breathing coming from behind the curtain. If he listened more closely, he could also hear another set of breaths, ragged and animalistic.

"Casew's with him, isn't she?"

"The dog?" Rouge chuckled. "Yeah, she's with him. Doctors had a hard time trying to get her out of the room. She wouldn't leave either one of you, and she actually snapped at them, so they just let her stay, she seems smart enough to not jump onto the beds or mess with the wires."

"That's good." Shadow chuckled before looking at the curtain again. "Casew. Casew, girl."

With a whimpering whine, Casew stood up from her spot on the floor next to Sonic's bed and pawed out from behind the curtain, looking at Shadow with excitement in her brown eyes. Shadow chuckled when he noticed that she was much cleaner, her white fur sleek and shiny.

"I decided to give her a bath." Rouge explained. "She was filthy, and I had a reckon you would want to keep her, considering you already named her."

"Actually, Casew is just Indian for Dog," Shadow explained. "But… you're right. She saved our lives. I was ready to give up hope of ever being saved… until she came. She was my sign of hope. No… she was _our_ sign of hope, even if he was already unconscious when she came. She's a friend and a lifesaver. She's a good girl."

At every word, Casew's tail wagged faster and faster until it was just a blur behind her. She really was a good girl. Shadow snickered and turned back to Rouge.

"How's Sonic doing?"

Rouge's face suddenly went very solemn. She sighed and stood up before going over to the curtain and pulling it aside, allowing the ebony hedgehog to lay his first glance upon the blue hedgehog since he woke up. Shadow gasped at the sight before him.

Sonic was still completely comatose. His fur was clean and neatly brushed and trimmed, but the ceruleum blue it once had been had dulled to a lifeless midnight blue, his yellowing peach skin making a stark contrast against it. His broken ankle was properly bandaged and slightly raised up in a hanging cast hooked up to the ceiling. A heart rate monitor, as well as an IV drip was hooked up to him, and two different tubes were shoved down his throat, one for breathing, and one for feeding. The breathing machine pumped in rhythm, making Sonic's chest gently rise and fall with each manual breath. When Shadow looked down to the side of Sonic's bed, he also noticed a catheter hooked up to the side.

Shadow breathed a shaking breath at the sight.

"Dear Lord Chaos."

Feeling that her friend has seen enough, Rouge closed to curtain once more, saving Shadow from staring any further.

"The others are on their way," She explained. "They should be here shortly and when they get here, I want them to be prepared for what they're gonna see, so I'm gonna go out and wait for them. You rest up. I'll be back shortly with the others."

"... Ok." Shadow quietly nodded, unable to look away from the curtain, knowing what was on the other side.

Rouge sighed and turned away, exiting out of the room to wait in the lobby for their other friends. Shadow finally brought himself to turn away from the curtain and lay back down, allowing his hand to hang off the side of the bed to let Casew lick and nuzzle it. Tears formed at the corners of his eyes as the image of his boyfriend laying in the hospital bed kept playing over and over in his mind. And as he continued to imagine it, his thoughts could only think of one thing.

The rapids.

" _Alright then hedgehog, time to get back up and running." He said as he started climbing back onto the boat._

" _Umm…" Sonic hesitated, looking back from the boat and to the rapids behind. "Don't you think we should pull the canoe a little further away from the rapids?"_

" _Nonsense." Shadow shook his head. "We're far enough away that we can paddle away from them. Nothing to worry about. Now get up here."_

 _Sonic sighed and climbed back onto the boat with Shadow, grabbing his paddle as Shadow did the same, a heavy feeling unable to leave his stomach._

Shadow groaned and covered his face with his hands, sobbing into his gloves.

This was all his fault.

Sonic said that they should pull the boat a little further away, but noooooo. Instead, Shadow had to be a naive ignorant jackass, too excited to get the mission over and done with to be as cautious as he should've been.

If only he had listened… this never would've happened.

"What have I done?"


	22. My Mortality

**Chapter 22: My Mortality**

About half an hour later, Shadow woke up once more, now realizing that he had cried himself back to sleep. Casew was laying at the foot of his bed, her ears pricked forward towards the curtain separating him and Sonic. Only then did he notice the voices coming from behind the curtain.

"Oh, this is just awful!" Cried an unmistakable squeally female voice. "Oh Sonic, why did you have to agree to this trip?!"

"It's not his fault, Amy," A young male voice countered. "Sonic was only trying to help."

"Yeah, and look where it's gotten him." Huffed a rougher male voice, almost as rough as Shadow himself. "I swear, this hedgehog doesn't know how to take care of himself."

"But he wasn't alone, remember?" Reminded another nervous young male voice. "Shadow was with him too."

"Right, and now they're both equally hurt." Agreed a female voice filled with authority.

"Oh please, as if that makes a difference." Shadow could practically HEAR Amy's eyes roll. "He's the Ultimate Lifeform AND immortal. He easily could've done the mission on his own."

"Do you really think that, Amy?" Rouge's voice huffed. "You saw the findings of the Devil Dragon they wrote on their map. You saw how big and deadly they said it was. Do you really think he could've handled it on his own?"

"Well… maybe they were just exaggerations."

By this time, Shadow's had enough of them talking as if he wasn't there, which to be fair, he really wasn't when he was asleep, and they don't know that he's awake now.

"Guys?" He called hoarsely, his throat still dry from the weeks of dehydration and the added crying before.

The curtain moved and from behind it a young face of a fox poked out.

"He's awake!" Tails called to the others. "Shadow's awake!"

"Shadow…" A dark voice growled as Amy pushed past the fox, her jade eyes enraged.

Shadow gulped with wide eyes as Amy's Piko Piko Hammer made an appearance into her hand. But as she stalked forward, Shadow knew that he deserved whatever he was about to get from the enraged female. It was his fault he and Sonic were like this anyway.

"You MORON!" Amy yelled in rage, keeping a tight grip onto her hammer. "How could you let this happen to Sonic?! I know you hate him and all, but I didn't think you'd stoop so low!"

Now at that accusation, Shadow felt like he had to defend himself. After all, he loved Sonic, not hated him.

"Now wait just a second," He growled. "I may have hated Sonic in the past, but that's not the way I feel about him now!"

"What are you talking about?" Knuckles frowned in confusion as he and the others joined them.

At this, Shadow's ears fell flat against his head and he looked down in shame. How in the world was he supposed to explain to them that he and Sonic had fallen in love? Especially when the one female who has claimed to love Sonic forever was standing in the very same room with him, her eyes searching for the perfect moment to strike with her hammer, just waiting for him to say the wrong thing. Oh, she was gonna kill him, he knew it.

Still, not any less than he deserves.

"I… I…" He stuttered, finding it difficult just to say the words. Why was it so difficult?

"It's alright, Shadow." Rouge came over to his side, laying a comforting hand on top of his. "Just tell us what's on your mind."

"I… I… love him… ok?"

The room was silent at Shadow's announcement, the seriousness of it slowly seeping into their minds.

"What did you say?" Amy frowned, sure that she had heard incorrectly.

"I said I love him, ok!" Shadow shouted in shame and sadness, tears once again filling his eyes. "I love Sonic the Hedgehog and I let him get hurt! I promised him! I promised him that I wasn't gonna let anything happen to him! He trusted me and I broke that trust! I'm a terrible person! I'm a terrible boyfriend!"

And then, all at once, the dam finally broke and Shadow's real emotions pushed through in one great big wave.

Emotions he had held back for way too long, ever since Maria had died.

Shadow cried and sobbed, high pitched wails coming from his mouth as the tears flowed freely down his cheeks, soaking his face and the bedsheets. He hiccuped and whimpered, and the more he tried to wipe his tears away, the more he seemed to cry.

The others were completely shocked by this, never before ever seeing the usually stuck up ebony hedgehog wail like this, rather than cry at all. It broke their hearts as they all watched on, coming to realize that his feelings for Sonic were real.

What had happened during the last three weeks?

Casew, being a dog, knew exactly what to do in this kind of situation. With a small whine, she stood up from the floor and, despite the rules this smart dog knew of, she jumped up onto the bed and curled up to Shadow's lap, lifting her muzzle to feverishly lick away the hedgehog's salty tears of anguish and self-hatred.

Slowly, Shadow began to calm down to Casew's comfort, as well as the comfort of Rouge who had started to hug him the moment he started bawling.

"Thank you *hic* Rouge." He hiccuped, his eyes bloodshot red as he gently petted Casew's head. "Good *hic* girl, Casew."

"You really love him that much, do you?" Amy sighed, her hammer disappearing.

"With all *hic* my heart." Shadow whimpered. "I don't know *hic* how it happened. It *hic* just did. *hic*"

Shadow sighed and looked back up to his friends, his eyes still sad and glossy.

"Look, you can *hic* hate me all *hic* you want. But I stand by *hic* what I say. *hic* I love him, *hic* and that's not gonna change. *hic*"

"Shadow, nobody's gonna hate you just because you found love with Sonic." Blaze sighed. "But you have to stop blaming yourself. This is not your fault."

"But it is. *hic*" Shadow whimpered as new tears filled his eyes, but before they could fall, Casew licked them away, making Shadow cringe when her tongue accidently touched his eye. "Down Casew."

Casew whined and laid her head back onto his lap, slowing wagging her tail side to side, looking up at him with her brown eyes to show that she was listening and was ready to comfort when he wanted it.

"Why do you think it's your fault?" Silver curiously asked.

"... Because I'm the reason we *hic* got lost in the first *hic* place." Shadow sighed. "We lost everything, *hic* because of me."

"Do you wanna do something about those hiccups before you tell us what you mean?" Tails gently asked.

"No, *hic*" Shadow shook his head. "It's less than *hic* what I deserve. *hic* I need to *hic* punish myself *hic* somehow."

"... you don't… need to punish… yourself… at all."

A faint whisper of a muffled voice made itself known in the quiet room.

With collective gasps, everybody turned their heads over to Sonic's bed, shocked and delighted when they saw him looking at them with tired eyes.

"S-Son*hic*nic?" Shadow called breathlessly.

"don't… punish… yourself… Shads…" Sonic said breathlessly, his voice being gurgled and muffled by the breathing tube stuck in his throat, the feeding tube already gone before. "it's not… your fault."

"But it *hic* is." Shadow sobbed. "I'm the reason *hic* we lost everything *hic* in the rapids. *hic* I'm the reason *hic* we got pulled back. *hic* You wanted to pull away *hic* more, but I said *hic* no. It's my fault. *hic* It's my fault. *hic*"

"you couldn't… have known…" Sonic shook his head. "even if… we pulled away… from the rapids… more… there was still… a chance… this would… happen."

"I doubt *hic* that." Shadow shook his head. "You should *hic* rest. You shouldn't *hic* strain yourself."

A sudden sadness filled Sonic's eyes, and everyone in the room except Shadow suddenly realized what was going on.

"oh, I will rest… soon." He sighed. "but first… there is something… I want… to say."

"Anything Sonic." Rouge encouraged. "What is it?"

"shadow… you have… to stop… blaming… yourself… I won't… tolerate… it… things happen… things… we can't… explain."

"... But…" Shadow started, but Sonic cut him off.

"no buts… shadow… I can't stand it… watching you… blame yourself… for something… out of your… control." Sonic sighed. His eyes were getting sleepy again, and he knew he had to wrap this up quick. "shadow… look at me."

Hesitantly, Shadow lifted his head and stared into the emerald eyes he loved so much. Love and sadness filled those eyes, and a sense of peace as well.

"shadow… I love you…" Sonic said, surprising Shadow and their friends. "I love you… so much… and I always will… never forget that, shadow… never forget that."

And then, at last, Sonic's eyes closed once more, as if he was going into a peaceful sleep.

All but Shadow cried at the sight, which only confused the obsidian and crimson hedgehog. Even Casew sat up and let out a loud mournful howl, despite not really knowing Sonic, but knew he was important to her master.

"What's going on?" Shadow frowned in confusion. "You all act like he's dead."

"Shadow…" Blaze started, but never got to finish.

At that moment, Sonic's vitals started going haywire, creating loud beeps and drone out notes. Sonic's body started to convulse, shaking the entire bed frame he laid in.

Shadow watched in pain and panic.

Sonic was having another seizure.

"Everyone out, now!"

Suddenly, three doctors came into the room and pushed their way through to the cobalt hedgehog, hoping that they'll be able to do everything they can to save him.

"Vitals are going absolutely haywire." One of the doctors, her nametag said Zoe on it, said to one of the males, who's tag said Dylan on it. "His body is rejecting the insulin for the Malaria."

"Doctor, what's going on?" Amy asked in a panic.

"Rates are climbing to 170." Dylan frowned, ignoring Amy's pleas. "He's going into VT, prepare for cardiac. I need 3 milligrams of midazolam, now."

"What's happening?" Rouge asked calmly as the black doctor ran to get the medicine.

"His heart is racing," Dylan explained to her. "We're going to sedate him and then shock him."

At that moment, the other doctor came back.

"I got the midazolam." He announced, giving it to Dylan.

"Wonderful." Dylan took the syringe and plunged the needle into Sonic's skin.

"Preparing charge for 100 synchronized shock." Zoe announced, holding the defibulators.

"What's happening?!" Shadow shouted, tears rolling down his face as Sonic's heart suddenly stopped.

"We need to clear out this room. Jacob handle that please." Dylan frowned, looking up to Zoe. "Apply shock."

As Zoe did as she was told, the black doctor, presumably Jacob, turned to the Mobians in the room.

"Listen, we're gonna do everything we can to save Sonic, but we need space to work." He told them. "Could you all please go wait in the lobby?"

"I'm not leaving him!" Shadow hissed.

Amongst the chaos, Casew was barking her head off, whimpering and whining, knowing it wasn't any use. Dogs just have these kind of sixth sense.

"Ok, first shock didn't work, charge to 150, and get that damn dog outta here!" Dylan shouted.

"Come on, Shadow." Silver gently urged the ebony hedgehog. "We have to let the doctors work, and you're the only one who can get Casew to calm down. We have to go."

Shadow knew Silver was right, but he really didn't want to leave. He was so afraid that if he left, Sonic would think he abandoned him.

"Shadow, come on." Knuckles urged. "There's nothing we can do for him here."

Shadow sighed and slowly nodded his head, closing his eyes in sadness.

"You're right." He sighed. "He's in the hands of Chaos now."

…

What seemed to be like 1 hour later, Shadow watched from his seat next to Rouge as the doctors came out of the room. Shadow nervously played with his IV tube and his leg shook as he petted Casew's head in a attempt to calm himself as he watched the three doctors argue amongst themselves.

"I wonder what's happening." Tails wondered aloud as he watched the doctors too.

 _Oh please be ok, Sonic._ Shadow silently pleaded.

At last, the doctors stopped arguing once Dylan threw his hands up and walked off, closely being followed by Zoe. That left Jacob alone as he sighed and started walking over to the Mobians. As he approached, Shadow immediately stood up, unable to handle the suspense any longer.

"How is he, doc?" He quickly asked. "Is he ok?"

Jacob looked from Shadow and to his friends, and back again. All were waiting for him to tell them the verdict of Sonic's condition. Eventually, he finally sighed and lowered his head.

"I'm very sorry." He said solemnly. "But we couldn't save him. Time of death… 7:43 pm."

It was like Shadow's whole world came crashing down on top of him, and all he could see afterwards was darkness. A cold, lonely darkness.

He couldn't believe it.

After everything they went through together this past 3 weeks… Sonic was dead.

… He failed.

With a last sorrowful moan, Shadow fell to the ground on his knees and cried, once again allowing the dam to break. He cried and he sobbed, ignoring the comforts of his friends.

Sonic was dead… and it was all his fault.

 **A/N: Wait! *ducks to dodge a volley of bricks* Well, you already threw the bricks but let me just tell you that there is a HUGE reason behind all this. First of all, I really had no intentions of killing Sonic, but my friend who I usually let read these chapters before I post kept telling me I should kill him, and then I got thinking to an idea. So, put those bricks down, because the next chapter will explain everything. There are only 2 chapters left, so I hope you're ready.**


	23. A Choice

**Chapter 23: A Choice**

Darkness.

That's all he saw when the hedgehog opened his eyes.

Darkness… cold and lonely.

It frightened him, making him question whether or not he should've fought harder.

Harder… for his life.

"Hello?! Can anybody hear me?!" The blue hedgehog called through the blackness, his voice echoing around him. "Please. Is someone there? I'm lost. Can anybody guide me?"

"Sonic."

Two soft voices called simultaneously through the blackness, followed by a white light that was bright enough to make Sonic shield his eyes. When the light died back down, Sonic opened his eyes and gasped at what he saw.

Standing in front of him, were two human female angels, dressed in pure white. They were both absolutely gorgeous, the one on the right having long ginger hair tied in a ponytail and midnight blue eyes. The one on the left had long blonde hair flowing behind her back and ocean blue eyes. She also wore a blue hairband over her head.

As Sonic got a better look at these two, he suddenly gasped as he realized who they were, recognizing them by many of Shadow's stories.

"Are you… Maria and Molly?"

"Yes, Sonic, that is us." Molly nodded.

"Shadow has told you a lot about us, has he, Sonic?" Maria added with a smile.

"Well, not much but, enough for me to recognize you." Sonic replied sheepishly. "What are you two doing here?"

"Why, we're here to guide you through this cold darkness." Maria answered. "Just like you asked."

"So, you're here to take me to heaven, or something like that?"

"Well," Maria and Molly looked to each other. "Not exactly."

"Wait, what?!" Sonic was panicking now. If they weren't taking him to heaven, then where were they taking him? Not hell! Surely not hell! Right?

"Relax, Sonic, we're not taking you to hell either." Molly laughed, earning a sigh of relief from the blue hedgehog.

"Oh, that's a relief." Sonic sighed. "But, if you're not taking me to heaven or hell, then where are you taking me? Surely I'm dead, right?"

"Well, not quite." Maria shook her head. "You see, Sonic, this dark place is known as Limbo, a plane between Life and Death. Here, in this plane, you are given a choice."

"A choice?" Sonic raised an eyeridge in confusion.

"Yes, Sonic. A choice." Maria nodded. "A choice between Life and Death."

"Something tells me it's not that easy though." Sonic frowned with his arms crossed.

"Oh, you'd be right about that." Molly nodded. "You see, Sonic, there's a reason why it was Maria and I that came to your call."

"And what reason is that?"

"Shadow." Both angels answered.

Suddenly, a bright light filled the room once more, forcing Sonic to shield his eyes once more. When he opened them again, the light was gone, but they weren't in the dark room anymore. Instead, they were on what appeared to be a spaceship. Upon further inspection, Sonic gasped.

"The ARK?" Sonic asked Maria, who nodded. "What are we doing here?"

"This is the ARK from the past, back when it was in its prime, when Shadow and I were young." Maria explained. "This place holds memories, Sonic. Memories that you must see to fully understand Shadow, and to fully make your choice."

"I don't understand." Sonic shook his head.

"In time, you will," Maria nodded, before a sound behind them made her turn her head. "For now, just witness these few memories."

Sonic turned his head to the sound too, and gasped when he saw another living Maria approach a younger Shadow, who was staring out fondly to the planet below.

"Don't worry, they cannot see us." Maria smiled to the blue hedgehog. "This is just a mere memory."

"Shadow… you like watching the earth?" Past Maria asked Shadow as she stood beside him, looking out the window as well.

"... The professor said that his studies are for the sake of all the people who live down there." He started. "He wants us to live a happy life by the means of science and that's why he exists."

As Sonic watched the memory, he became confused. Where was Shadow going with this?

"Shadow…" Past Maria sighed.

"Maria, I couldn't find the reason I was created." Shadow shut his eyes tight and hung his head. "Why was I created? What should I do?"

Sonic gasped as he witnessed this. Back in this past, Shadow didn't know his purpose. It made Sonic feel terribly sorry for the ebony hedgehog. He couldn't think of a worse way to feel.

Shadow sighed and looked back out the window, towards earth.

"If I can go to that planet, one day I may find out the truth."

With those last words the memory wavered and disappeared. Suddenly, the scene was changed. Sonic and the angels were in the escape room now, red lights blazing through the room, accompanied by the sound of blaring alarms.

"What's happening?!" Sonic gasped. "Is this another memory?!"

"It is, a sad one at that." Maria sighed. "Shadow told you the story, but he didn't tell all of it."

"... No." Sonic gasped when he realized which memory this was.

As if on cue, Past Maria and Shadow came running into the escape room, the door slamming shut behind them. Gunshots could be heard on the other side, and to the surprise of both hedgehogs, Maria pushed Shadow into one of the open escape pods, the glass tube sliding shut once he was in.

Shadow growled and struggled, kicking and punching at the glass, but it refused to break. He watched as Past Maria went up to the lever, her hand resting on it as she spoke to him.

"I beg you… Shadow." She said to him. "Please, do it for me."

"Maria!" Shadow shouted, pounding on the glass, but to no avail.

"For all the people who are living on that planet…"

At that moment, the door slid open and a team of G.U.N soldiers came filing in, their weapons raised at the human girl.

"Step away from the lever!" One of them shouted at her.

"No, wait!" Sonic gasped, jumping in front of the girl, as if he could stop what was about to happen.

"You can't stop them, Sonic." Molly sighed sadly. "This is just a memory."

At that moment, Past Maria pulled the lever and the countdown to Shadow's escape pod started. At the same time, the lead soldier open fired, shooting a bullet straight at her.

"No!" Sonic screamed, hoping, praying that with his body in the way he could save the girl, but alas, the bullet just went straight through him, as if he was a ghost, embedding itself deep into Past Maria's abdomen.

As the girl fell to the ground, she turned to Shadow, who could only watch in shock and fear.

"Shadow, I beg you…" She started weakly. "You'll have to take my place in the future."

"Maria!" Shadow shouted with tears in his eyes.

"Everyone who lives on that planet, give them a chance, and they will live very blessed lives. Then our wish will be realized."

"Your wish?" Sonic questioned to himself quietly as he continued to watch on, tears streaming from his own eyes as he witnessed the pain that his dear Shadow had to go through.

"You were created just for that cause." Past Maria continued breathlessly. "The one who will watch over and protect us… just like a shadow."

"Maria." Shadow whimpered through his tears as the countdown finally reached zero.

"Sayanora, Shadow the Hedgehog."

With those final words of a dying girl, and an anguished cry of an ebony hedgehog, the hatch opened and Shadow's escape pod went flying through space, headed to the planet below.

The memory wavered once more, and Sonic, Maria, and Molly were suddenly back in Limbo.

"I had no idea." Sonic sniffed as he wiped away his tears. "I feel like I understand him more than ever now. He was suffering so much after your death. He wanted to avenge you. I could tell that he loved you very very much, Maria."

"And I will always love him, just like you'll always love him as well." Maria nodded.

"But I still don't understand what it has to do with my choice."

"Then maybe it's time you saw the memory about me." Molly nodded.

At those words, another memory flashed in, but it was different this time. This was on a planet Sonic had never been on. On this planet, the humans and Metarex were at war. As Sonic looked around, he could see that most of the humans have given up, accepting their fate with the aliens.

"This is the memory where I died." Molly explained. "It was just as hard on Shadow as Maria's death. Watch and you shall see."

"Please, stop!"

Sonic looked up to the voice when it called out, and he gasped when he saw Past Molly flying towards the soldiers who have given up in her fighter jet. She looked serious.

"Don't tell me you really want to join the Metarex and abandon our planet to them!" She blinked in disbelief to her people. "What have you done to restore our planet to the way it once was?"

"Shut up, that's enough!" One of the younger soldiers shouted, surprising both Past Molly and Sonic.

"I'm tired of living like this on this planet in ruins." Another soldier sighed sadly.

"And I'm tired of fighting." Another added. "If the Metarex accept our alliance, we will survive."

"We don't have the same strength that you have." Continued the younger soldier from earlier, probably the one in charge in Sonic's logic. "Just go away. We don't want to die! We refuse to die for our planet!"

"COWARDS!" Sonic screeched as Past Molly gasped. "GET UP AND FIGHT!"

"He does not seem to understand it is only a memory." Molly whispered to Maria.

"I think he's just shocked." Maria nodded. "It's like people in a movie theater. They tend to shout at the screen, even though the characters cannot hear them."

Suddenly, at that moment, Shadow jumped onto the wing of Past Molly's fighter jet, gaining her attention.

"Leave them, it's better." He told her.

"Shadow…" She whimpered softly to him.

"You gave yourself a mission," He continued. "And you have to complete it."

It was at this moment that Sonic noticed that Shadow was holding the white Chaos Emerald. The emerald began to glow in his hand, and the ebony hedgehog jumped off the wing of the fighter jet, shooting himself forward to the attacking Metarex ships. Sonic watched as his boyfriend's past self flew right through one of the ships, blowing it to pieces. At the same time, Past Molly had turned her fighter jet around, fleeing the scene.

"But I don't understand." Sonic frowned as he turned to Molly. "How exactly did you die?"

"Watch." Molly nodded ahead.

At that moment, Sonic heard a loud boom resonate behind him. He turned back around and gasped when he saw Past Molly flying her jet back into battle, screaming in battle rage towards one of the ships.

"Molly!"

The sudden shout made Sonic turn his head as he realized for the first time that Rouge was also in this memory. The sound of laser bullets made the blue hedgehog turn his head back to watch Past Molly fighting the main Metarex ship.

"Molly..." Sonic whispered fearfully.

The laser bullets of the fighter jet did little to damage the ship, and in response, the Metarex ship charged up its own lasers and open fired at Past Molly. Shadow moved to save her, but it was too late. Sonic watched with tears in his eyes as Past Molly's fighter jet exploded, taking her life with it.

"MOLLY!" He and Rouge cried out together, as the soldiers only watched in shock.

"Oh Chaos, why?" Sonic whimpered as he fell to his knees, tears streaming from his eyes. "First Maria, and then Molly? Is this what you wanted to show me?"

"Not quite." Molly shook her head as the memory wavered once more.

The planet was in ruins, but the battle had been won. Not a sight of a Metarex ship in the sky. Sonic watched as Shadow and Rouge stood before a large stone, in obvious memory of the brave Molly, who sacrificed her life for her planet.

"Shadow?" Rouge questioned the dark hedgie. "Do you think that Molly… reminded you of someone?"

Sonic gasped at this, knowing exactly where the ivory bat was going with this. Of course. Molly's sacrifice was just like Maria's.

"Reminded me of someone?" Shadow frowned to his friend.

"Yes." Rouge nodded. "It's ok if she didn't."

"She didn't belong to the past." Shadow sighed. "She continued to look toward the future."

Shadow sighed and began walking away, tossing the white Chaos Emerald to the bat.

"What?" Rouge questioned in confusion as she caught the jewel.

"Give this to the doctor." Shadow ordered her as he continued walking away.

"Shadow." Sonic reached out to touch him as he walked by, but just like the bullet that killed Maria, the ebony hedgehog went right through him as if he was a ghost.

As Shadow continued to walk away, the memory wavered and they were back in the dark place.

Sonic dropped to his knees, his hands against the floor to support his weight as he sobbed.

"Shadow's lost so much." He whimpered. "He lost Maria, and then he lost Molly. Both died for a good cause, but what is mine?"

"Sonic," Maria spoke, making him look up at her. "There is one more thing we need to show you."

"Another memory?" Sonic assumed.

"Not quite." Maria shook her head.

At this, the bright light shined again, and suddenly, they were in the hospital in the Amazon.

"The hospital." Sonic sighed with his eyes closed. "My final resting place. But why here?"

"There is something that you must see, Sonic." Maria nodded.

Following Maria's gaze, Sonic turned his head to see a room with its door open. Curious, Sonic stepped forward, and he gasped when he saw Shadow, _his_ Shadow, crouched by his lifeless body, tears streaming from his bloodshot eyes.

"Shadow?" Sonic raised an eyeridge in question as he approached his boyfriend, but just like the memories, the ebony hedgehog took no notice, his gaze only on the dead.

"Sonic…" Shadow sighed sadly, closing his eyes and hanging his head, his ears pressed flat. "Why did it have to be you? Out of everybody, why you?"

Curious and heartbroken, Sonic sat next to him, listening to what he had to say.

"I just don't understand it." He continued. "It seems so unfair. Every time I find someone new to love, they are ripped away from me. First Maria, then Molly… and now you."

Shadow sighed and looked up, gently caressing the midnight blue quills.

"But… I suppose that how things are." He sighed. "Perhaps I'm just not meant to love. I mean, who am I kidding? I'm immortal. Anyone I've ever fallen in love with I will eventually outlive. I can't imagine anything worse. … But still… it hurts to see the ones you love die in front of you, without even given a chance to live long and old."

"Shadow…" Sonic sniffed.

"Sonic… if you can hear me even in death… I want you to know that I will always love you. I will never forget you, and your legacy shall live on. The people from generations to come will know of the great things you've done for this world, and the love you have shown me through the past three weeks. I love you, so much."

With those words, Sonic choked up as Shadow leaned forward and placed a gentle meaningful kiss upon his lips. It was like the scene between Elise and his corpse, but this scene held more meaning than that. This contained real love.

"Sayanora, Sonic the Hedgehog."

As Sonic, Maria, and Molly returned back to Limbo, Sonic had tears streaming down his face once more. Shadow had lost so much, but each time, he was accepting of it. This was no different, but to Sonic, it was.

This time, there was a choice.

"So, Sonic," Maria gained his attention. "What will it be? Will you choose Life, and let Shadow outlive you to watch you die again?"

"Or will you choose Death, and let Shadow continue to love the hedgehog he came to know, and tell stories about your great adventures from generation to generation?" Molly added.

Sonic sniffed and wiped his eyes, staring directly at the two angels, already knowing his answer.

"I choose…"

 **A/N: GAH! Such a long chapter! This took a lot of my thinking to make sure that this chapter made sense and held a lot of emotion. It took me three days to write this chapter, with a lot of rethinking. But here it is. What will Sonic choose? Life or Death? Find out in the final chapter, "I Shouldn't Be Alive", coming this Thursday.**


	24. I Shouldn't Be Alive

**Chapter 24: I Shouldn't Be Alive**

Shadow laid his head on the mattress as he gently stroked the quills of his dead blue lover.

Ever since Doctor Jacob announced Sonic's death, the ebony hedgehog had been deeply depressed, refusing to leave his side even after the body had went cold.

His friends had tried to coax him out of the room to help them sign the proper papers while the hospital CNAs cleaned the body, but he refused, taking part in helping the CNAs bathe the hedgehog and change the sheets instead. He did not want to leave his lover's side unless he absolutely had to.

He couldn't help but feel like this was his fault.

From the very beginning, he has done nothing but harm the blue hedgehog. Sure, they had good moments together too, but most of their time was spent with fighting and racing… like the Commander had said. Since day 1, with their first meeting on Earth, there were times when Shadow had wished death upon Sonic.

Now that it had actually happened… Shadow more than ever wished for Silver's powers to travel back in time so he could smack his past self silly for thinking such awful things. More than anything… he wished that he could die too.

"I shouldn't be alive." Shadow sighed and he closed his eyes sadly, resting his hand against his lover's.

Unbeknownst to him, blue ears twitched to his voice as equally blue eyelids fluttered open, gazing down at the sad ebony. A smile came across the peach face as the hand attached to the body gently squeezed it's lover's.

"You… are such a stubborn hedgehog."

Shadow gasped when he heard that voice. Could it be? It's not possible!

 _But it is!_ Shadow's thoughts screamed as he stared tearfully into the bright, beautiful emerald green eyes. "Sonic?!"

It was a miracle! Sonic the Hedgehog was alive, looking as if he was never dead to begin with!

His eyes were bright and full of life, his skin back to the peach tone it was supposed to be, and his fur and quills shone with the beautiful azure color he once was!

"I'm back, Shads." He smiled brightly.

Shadow couldn't take it. In one quick motion, Shadow collapsed into Sonic's arms and cried his heart out, so happy that his love was alive. Sonic smiled warmly and wrapped his ebony love into a warm embrace, rocking him back and forth as he whispered shushed words of comfort.

"It's alright, Shadow. I'm here. I'm alive."

"But how? I don't understand." Shadow shook his head as he sat up. He sniffed, feverishly wiping his tears away to gaze once more at his beautiful miracle.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." Sonic chuckled, bringing his hand up to wipe the remaining tears off his lover's face.

At that moment, an excited white dog came running into the room, barking her little canine head off. In one great big bountiful leap, Casew jumped onto Sonic's bed and started feverishly licking his face all over.

"OOF!" Sonic chuckled as the big white Labrador pup stepped all over him. "Now who is _this_ pretty girl?"

"Heh, this is Casew." Shadow answered as he forced the dog to lay down so she wasn't stepping all over his boyfriend. "She's the one who saved our lives. She's the one who led us out of the jungle."

"Well, it's nice to meet you too, Casew." Sonic giggled as he lovingly flopped the dog's ears.

At that moment, Rouge and the others came running into the room, completely out of breath as they have been chasing the dog all around, finally tracking her back to the room.

"Sorry, Shadow." Tails panted, holding his beating heart. "We know you want to be alone right now with Sonic, but Casew just started going crazy, baeking her head off for no reason before dashing down the hall to this room."

"Honestly, we have no idea what has gotten into her." Silver shook his head with a woosh of air from his lungs.

"Uh, guys…"

At the familiar, but certainly most impossible voice, collective dramatic gasps came from the friends as they laid their eyes onto Sonic for the first time, completely bewildered that he was alive.

"Hey guys, looks like I'm still alive." Sonic smiled cheerfully.

"SONIC!"

Suddenly, the blue hedgehog was bombarded by hugs from all his friends, obviously glad, if not shocked, to see him alive again.

"How is this possible?" Tails questioned as they all let go, letting the hedgehog breathe again.

"Well…" Sonic said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head as he sweatdropped. "Let's just say that I was stuck in Limbo for a bit before a couple of angels helped me find my way back."

As he said that, Sonic turned his gaze to Shadow with a knowing smile filled with love. Shadow didn't really know why he was looking at him like that, but as he began to ponder, he smiled back, having a pretty good idea on who the angels were.

"Man, Sonic," Knuckles chuckled as he shook his head, his arms crossed in amusement. "You're so stubborn, not even death can beat you."

"I don't think it was stubbornness, Knuckles." Amy sighed dreamily. "I think it was love. His love for Shadow."

"...Amy…" Sonic began guiltily, but Amy quickly cut him off.

"Oh, don't worry about it, Sonic." She smiled cheerfully. "I knew that there were only two things that were going to happen eventually. Either you were gonna finally cave in and get with me, or you were gonna get with somebody else. Still surprised that it's Shadow, but I don't mind. We can still be friends. And besides, as long as you're happy, I'm happy."

"Wow… thanks Amy." Sonic and Shadow both smiled with appreciation.

"Well, _I_ think you're both wrong." Shadow shook his head with a smile. "I think the reason why Sonic is alive now is because of an equal amount of stubbornness, and an equal amount of love. … Stubborn Love."

Sonic chuckled and laid his forehead against Shadow's, gazing lovingly into his beautiful ruby red eyes.

"Same to you, Shadow… Stubborn Love."

"Hmmm, 'Stubborn Love'. What an interesting title... I love it!"

A new voice rang through the room, making everybody present jump. The group turned towards the door and were surprised to see a human man standing there, looking at the couple very confidently. Behind him, a man with a camera stood there, obviously waiting for his cue.

"Um…" Rouge frowned. "Who are you?"

"Ah! Yes, please, allow me to introduce myself." The man chuckled, walking up to the group. "I am Darlow Smithson, producer of _I Shouldn't Be Alive_ currently aired on _Animal Planet_. I was hoping I could get a story from these two survivors of the Amazon Rainforest, and be permitted to turn it into an episode for the show. And I believe your little phrase, _Stubborn Love_ may just be the prefect title for the episode."

The hedgehog lovers were stunned. This man… THE Darlow Smithson… wanted to know THEIR story, and make it an episode for the greatest show about the greatest survival stories ever told!

"Mr. Smithson, this is such an honor." Sonic gave a breath of a laugh, excited and nervous at the same time.

"But are you sure you can handle such a story?" Shadow challenged carefully.

"I've heard many survival stories in my day." Darlow nodded. "And I'm sure yours must be the most interesting one yet."

"Come to think of it." Silver frowned in curiosity. "I kinda want to know the story too."

"Yes, what happened to you two over the three weeks you were missing?" Blaze asked.

Sonic and Shadow looked around the room. Everybody was looking at them, curious and intent for a story of love and survival. Even the cameraman already had his camera out, waiting to start recording, but had his full attention on the hedgehogs nonetheless.

The two hedgehogs looked to each other and chuckled. If they wanted a story, they were gonna get one.

"I suggest you get comfortable, this is gonna be a long one." Sonic smiled.

"Yes, quite," Shadow nodded in agreement. "Well… it all started about three weeks ago, when the Commander of G.U.N decided to send Sonic and I on a mission…"

 **The End**


	25. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

A few weeks later, Sonic and Shadow were finally permitted to go home. By the time they got back to Station Square, news about what had happened to them had spread like wildfire.

It was hard for the two hedgehogs to get past/avoid the paparazzi and the news media. And the new episode of I Shouldn't Be Alive they had permitted Darlow Smithson to make definitely didn't help. It had taken them nearly a whole day before they finally got to Shadow's house. Avoidance would've been easier if they didn't have a dog tagging along.

"Welcome home, Casew." Shadow said to the white Labrador pup as he opened the door to his house, allowing the dog and Sonic to enter. As soon as the blue hedgehog entered, Shadow gently grabbed him and turned him around, placing a passionate kiss on his lips. Sonic purred and kissed back. As they pulled away, Shadow grinned. "And a big welcome to you too."

Sonic giggled and shook his head. "It's a nice place you have here. Maybe someday I'll move in. But, that's a discussion for the future."

"Right. Can't move too fast, even though that's how we like it." Shadow chuckled.

"Mmm, not with a relationship." Sonic grinned. "A relationship takes time to build. We haven't even had our first date yet."

"Well then, how about next Friday?" Shadow suggested. "I can make us reservations to go climbing or something else outdoorsy."

Sonic grinned and nuzzled him. "I'd like that." He suddenly started sniffing the air and cringed, plugging his nose. "Is something molding?"

Shadow frowned and took a whiff himself. He cringed and blushed brightly, quickly heading to the kitchen to finally wash the cereal bowl that had been left in the sink for the past month.

 **A/N: Hope you liked that little epilogue. I had been thinking about it for awhile now since I just remembered about the cereal bowl from the first chapter, lol. This was also a little announcement chapter, to tell you all that I will be making a new sequel to Stubborn Love. Update times will be the same, Tuesdays and Thursdays. So keep your eyes open for Stubborn Love: First Date.**


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